Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Determiners



Topic 5

Determiners


Common Nouns are the names of people, animals, things, places or events in general.

Determiners are the words that tell you which particular person, animal, thing, place or event concerned; whose; how many and so on. 

Determiners are also “signaller of nouns”.  They restrict / give definite information of the nouns concerned.

Determiners              *a class of words modifying nouns
   *have the function of defining the reference / definiteness of
          the noun
*In other words, they tend to specify the noun concerned

                                      For example, which one, whose thing, how many / much,
                                       near one / far one, how many/ much, in what order,

                             *In other words, determiners give extra information of the
                               noun concerned.

Without determiners, we only get the general information of the noun concerned.

For example:
Lions are fierce animals.  They eat meat.  They are carnivorous.
                  
With the determiners to modify the noun, we can have some more specific information of the noun concerned

          For example:
          There are 6 lions in the zoo.  One of the lions is very tame. 
          It is called Lionee.  Lionee, the lion does not eat much meat.                             It enjoys fruits and vegetables.

Hence the two examples show the difference of the noun with / without determiners.

Determiners are always placed before nouns.
Types of Determiner

Specific

          1.  cardinal number                     --  1,2,3, 4,……………………
                   Five children were absent yesterday.
                  
          2.  ordinal number                      --  first, second, third,……………………
          Aida is /the second child in the family/.

3.  Definite articles                     --   the
          [The playground] is well-maintained.

4.  Demonstrative adjectives        --  this / these / that / those
                   [These shoes] need washing.

#5.  Fractions                            --  half, one-third, two-thirds, a quarter ….
                   Half of the students in my class go for tuition every day.

          6.  Multipliers                                      --  once, twice, thrice, 5 times, double, triple…
                   She takes a bath twice a day.

7.  Possessive adjective (P2)        --  my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
               Possessive noun                    --  Mary’s house,  my father’s friends     
                   That is Maria’s ruler.  That is her ruler.
                                      
(#This one is not placed before the noun.  Hence I don’t really see it a determiner like the others. )

General
          1.  Indefinite article                    --  a / an
                   There is an apple on the dining table.

2.  General ordinals                    --  another, other, further, last,  next, ………
          She wants ((another glass)) of juice).

          3.  Quantifiers                            --  many / much;  few / fewer /fewest / little /
                                                              less / least ;  a few / a little, several, a large
                                                              number of / a large amount of / quantity of
                                                              / a great deal of;  a lot of / plenty of; some/
                                                              any; no; none; enough;
                                                              all; both; each; every; one; either of /
                                                              neither of;
                   Many people are worried about the high cost of living.
                   I drink a little tea every day.
                   Every boy and girl in this class is  polite.

          4.  Wh-words                                      --  what / whatever, whose, which / whichever
                   What qualifications are required to apply for the post?
                   Whatever language it is, there are some basic rules and regulations to
                    follow.
                   Whose pen is this?
                   Which boy is more hardworking?
                   Whichever job you have, your main duty is to do your best.

          5.  Words expressing attitudes, etc    quite, rather, such, what ……………..
                   Nobody could tackle such a problem.
                   What a big ship it is.

Sequence of Determiners

1.                          2.                          3.                          4

Intensifiers            Pre-determiners      Determiners            Post-determiners
(Adverbs)

almost                               Attitude words     Articles                          cardinal numbers
even                          
just                          Fractions             Demonstratives          Ordinal numbers
not                       
only                        Multipliers              Possessives            General ordinals

                               Quantifiers              Quantifiers             Quantifiers
                  
                                                            Wh-determiners


1.  Intensifiers ( adverbs) are words modify determiners.  Yes, all determiners may be
     preceded by intensifiers.

2.  Pre-determiners;
          4.  Attitude words:                     quite, rather, such, what………….
3.  Fractions:                    a third, three quarters,  two-fifths……….
          2.  Multipliers:                  once, twice, thrice, double, 8 times

          1.  Quantifiers:                 both, half, all,

3.  (Central) Determiners:
          1.  articles:                      a / an / the
          2.  Demonstratives:          this/ these/ that/ those
          3.  Possessives:                P2 ----- my/your/ his/her/its/our/your/their
               Possessive nouns:        Rose’s car, Tina’s pet
          4.  Quantifiers:                 any, some, each, every, either, neither, no
          5.  wh-determiners:          what(ever) whose, which(ever)

@@ the = this/ these/ that/ those

4.  Post-determiners:
          2.  Cardinal numbers:        one, two, three, ………………
          1.  Ordinal numbers:         first, second, third…………………
          3.  General ordinals:                   following, last, more, next, other…………..
          4.  Quantifiers:                 many/much, few/little, more/ less

[Only a few students] could answer (the questions).
[[Not all the students]] in (my school)] come for( extra-curricular activities) in (the afternoon).

@@  Determiners have traditionally been classified as adjectives or pronouns

 




No comments:

Post a Comment