Determiners, Countability
Tóth Ágnes
2013.04.15
Determiners are words placed in front of a noun
(or a NP) to make it clear what the noun refers to.
Classes of Determiners
I. Definite and Indefinite articles
the, a, an
II. Demonstratives
this, that, these, those
III. Possessives
my, your, his, her, its, our, their
IV. Quantifiers
a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc.
V. Distributives
all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
VI. Difference words
other, another
VII. Question words
Which, what, whose
VIII. Defining words
which, whose
I. Definite article
THE
1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned
2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not
been mentioned before.
Where's the library?
3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object
4. to refer to objects we regard as unique
the sun
5. before superlatives and ordinal numbers
the highest building, the first page
6. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people
the Hungarians
7. with names of geographical areas and oceans:
the Caribbean
8. with decades, or groups of years
in the eighties
I. Indefinite Article
A/An
Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels),
'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)
BUT: An before a mute h - an hour, an honour.
A before u and eu when they sound like 'you':
a european, a university, a unit
1. To refer to something for the first time
2. To refer to a particular member of a group or class
3. With names of jobs
4. He wants to be a dancer.
5. With nationalities and religions:
John is an Englishman.
Kate is a Catholic.
6. With musical instruments:
Sherlock Holmes was playing a violin when the visitor arrived.
7. With names of days:
I was born on a Thursday
8. To refer to a kind of, or example of something
9. With singular nouns, after the words 'what' and 'such':
What a shame!
She's such a beautiful girl.
10. Meaning 'one', referring to a single object or person
II. Demonstratives
This, That, These, Those
Show where an object or person is in relation to the speaker.
1. Before the noun.
2. Before the word 'one'.
3. Before an adjective + noun.
4. Alone when the noun is 'understood'.
This (singular) and these (plural) refer to an object or person near the speaker.
That (singular) and those (plural) refer to an object or person further away. It can
be a physical closeness or distance as in:
Who owns that house? (distant)
Is this John's house? (near)
Or it can be a psychological distance as in:
That's nothing to do with me.. (distant)
This is a nice surprise! (near)
III. Possessives
my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
Possesive determiners vs. Possesive pronouns
Possessive
determiners
Possessive
pronouns
Example
my
mine
This is my car. vs. It is mine.
your
yours
This is your car. vs. It is yours.
his/her/its
his/her/its
This is his car. vs. It is his.
our
ours
This is our car. vs. It is ours.
your
yours
This is your car. vs. It is yours.
their
theirs
This is their car. vs. It is theirs.
[http://www.smbv.sz.uni-erlangen.de/course/szfausmbv/grammar/grammar/section4/page1_en.html]z.uni-erlangen.de/course/szfausmbv/grammar/grammar/section4/page1_en.html]
IV. Quantifiers
a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any,
enough, etc.
Quantifiers are adjectives and adjectival phrases that give approximate
answers to the questions "How much?" and "How many?"
1. Numbers: Ordinal and Cardinal, percentages
2. Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns
3. A few and few, a little and little
4. Some and any
5. Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO
6. Graded Quantifiers
7. Enough + Noun
1. Numbers: Ordinal and Cardinal, percentages
Cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives referring to quantity
Ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to distribution.
2. Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns
Only withuncountable nouns - How much?
A little, a bit (of), a great deal of, a large amount of
With uncountable and countable nouns - How much? or How many?
No/none, not any, some, a lot of, plenty of
Only with countable nouns - How many?
A few, a number of, several, a large number of, a great number of
5. Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO
Some + /Any + /No +
-thing -body -one -where
6. Graded Quantifiers
They function like comparatives and hold a relative position on a scale of increase or
decrease
INCREASE From 0% to 100%
With plural countable nouns:
many more most
With uncountable nouns:
much more most
DECREASE From 100% to 0%
With plural countable nouns:
few
fewer fewest
With uncountable nouns:
little
less
least
V. Distributives
all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
All +
1.uncountable noun
2.‘the’ + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form
3.‘my’, ‘your’, etc + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form
4. ‘this’, ‘that’ + uncountable noun/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form
Both +
1. ‘the’ /‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form (only when two objects are
being referred to)
Half +
1. ‘a’ + uncountable noun
2. ‘the’/‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ + noun
The Ordering of Determiners
Depending on their relative position before a noun,three
classes of determiners are distinguished.
1.Predeterminer
2. Central Determiner
3. Postdeterminer
It is rare for all three determiner slots to be filled in the
same sentence. Generally, only one or two slots are
filled.
1. Predeterminers (can not co-occur)
● Specify the quntity of the noun
● All, both
2. Central Determiners
● Articles (most common)
● Possesives
● Demonstratives
3. Postdeterminers (can co-occur)
● Numbers
● Quantifiers
Countable, Uncountable nouns
Countable nouns:
Can be singular or plural
● Quantifiers to use: a few, several, each, a small
number of, not too many, every few,
●
Uncountable nouns:
Substances, concepts that cannot be divided into
separate elements. (We cannot count orange juice, but
we can count a box of orange juice.)
● They are treated singular (This news is important)
● Some/any, little/much can be used with uncountable
nouns.
● Quantifiers to use: a little, a small amount of, a bit of,
not too much
●
With the change of meaning, certain words can be
both countabe and uncountable
[http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable_3.htm]
Countable
Uncountable
There are two hairs in my
coffee!
hair
I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our
bedroom.
light
Close the curtain. There's too
much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a
noise.
There are so many different
noises in the city.
noise
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a
noise.
There are so many different
noises in the city.
Have you got a paper to
read? (newspaper)
Hand me those student
papers.
paper
I want to draw a picture. Have
you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.
room
Is there room for me to sit
here?
We had a great time at the
party. We had a great time at
the party.
How many times have I told
you no?
time
Have you got time for a cup of
coffee?
In pairs, write sentences in three minutes, include as many
determiners as possibe.
[http://www.roydoty.com/illustration/busy-office.gif]
[http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/richard-scarrysbusytown/screenshots/gameShotId,278892/]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvqHuoZlKmc
Source/more on determiners:
Edufind.com
Main structure based on:
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/determiners_cl
The ordering of determiners:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/determin/xdetm3.h