English Grammar - Determiners

A determiner is a word, phrase or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determiner may indicate whether the noun is referring to a definite or indefinite element of a class, to a closer or more distant element, to an element belonging to a specified person or thing, to a particular number or quantity, etc. Common kinds of determiners include definite and indefinite articles (like the English the and a[n]), demonstratives (like this and that), possessive determiners (like my and their), and quantifiers (like many, few and several).

Most determiners have been traditionally classed along with adjectives, and this still occurs: for example, demonstrative and possessive determiners are sometimes described as demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives respectively. However, modern theorists of grammar prefer to distinguish determiners as a separate word class from adjectives, which are simple modifiers of nouns, expressing attributes of the thing referred to. This distinction applies particularly in languages like English which use definite and indefinite articles, frequently as a necessary component of noun phrases – the determiners may then be taken to be a class of words which includes the articles as well as other words that function in the place of articles. (The composition of this class may depend on the particular language's rules of syntax; for example, in English the possessives my, your etc. are used without articles and so can be regarded as determiners, whereas their Italian equivalents mio etc. are used together with articles and so may be better classed as adjectives.) Not all languages can be said to have a lexically distinct class of determiners.

In some languages, the role of certain determiners can be played by affixes (prefixes or suffixes) attached to a noun, or by other types of inflection. For example, definite articles are represented by suffixes in the Scandinavian languages, Romanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian (the Swedish bok "book", when definite, becomes boken "the book", while the Romanian caiet "notebook" similarly becomes caietul "the notebook"). Some languages such as Finnish have possessive affixes, which play the role of possessive determiners like my and his.

X-bar theory contends that every noun has a corresponding determiner (or specifier). In a case where a noun does not have an explicit determiner (as in physics uses mathematics), X-bar theory hypothesizes the presence of a zero article, or zero determiner. Some modern grammatical approaches regard determiners (rather than nouns) as the head of their phrase, and thus refer to such phrases as determiner phrases rather than noun phrases. For more detail on theoretical approaches to the status of determiners, see Noun phrase: Noun phrases with and without determiners.

Types of determiners

• Articles
• Demonstratives
• Possessives
• Quantifiers
• Numerals
• Distributives

For details of the use of determiners in English, see English determiners (and specifically for the definite and indefinite articles, English articles).

English determiners

An important role in English grammar is played by determiners – words or phrases that precede a noun or noun phrase and serve to express its reference in the context. The most common of these are the definite and indefinite articles, the and a(n). Other deteminers in English include demonstratives such as this and that, possessives such as my and the boy's, and quantifiers such as all, many and three.

In many contexts the presence of some determiner is required in order to form a complete noun phrase. However, in some cases complete noun phrases are formed without any determiner (sometimes referred to as "zero determiner" or "zero article"), as in the sentence Apples are fruit. Determiners can also be used in certain combinations, as in my many friends or all the chairs.

Common determiners

The following is a rough classification of determiners used in English, including both words and phrases:

• Definite determiners, which imply that the referent of the resulting noun phrase is defined specifically:
  • The definite article the.
  • The demonstratives this and that, with respective plural forms these and those.
  • Possessives, including those corresponding to pronouns – my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose – and the Saxon genitives formed from other nouns, pronouns and noun phrases (one's, everybody's, Mary's, a boy's, the man we saw yesterday's). These can be made more emphatic with the addition of own or very own.
  • Interrogatives which, what (these can be followed by -ever for emphasis).
  • Relative determiners: which (quite formal and archaic, as in He acquired two dogs and three cats, which animals were then...); also whichever and whatever (which are of the type that form clauses with no antecedent: I'll take whatever money they've got).
• Indefinite determiners:
  • The indefinite article a or an (the latter is used when followed by a vowel sound).
  • The word some, pronounced [s(ə)m] (see Weak and strong forms in English), used as an equivalent of the indefinite article with plural and non-count nouns (a partitive).
  • The strong form of some, pronounced [sʌm], as in Some people prefer dry wine; this can also be used with singular count nouns (There's some man at the door). For words such as certain and other see below.
  • The word any, often used in negative and interrogative contexts in place of the article-equivalent some (and sometimes also with singular count nouns). It can also be used to express alternative (see below).
• Quantifiers, which quantify a noun:
  • Basic words indicating a large or small quantity: much/many, little/few, and their comparative and superlative forms more, most, less/fewer, least/fewest. Where two forms are given, the first is used with non-count nouns and the second with count nouns (although in colloquial English less and least are frequently also used with count nouns). The basic forms can be modified with adverbs, especially very, too and so (and not can also be added). Note that unmodified much is quite rarely used in affirmative statements in colloquial English.
  • Phrases expressing similar meanings to the above: a lot of, lots of, plenty of, a great deal of, tons of, etc. Many such phrases can alternatively be analyzed as nouns followed by a preposition, but their treatment as phrasal determiners is supported by the fact that the resulting noun phrase takes the number of the following noun, not the noun in the phrase (a lot of people would take a plural verb, even though lot is singular).
  • Words and phrases expressing some unspecified or probably quite small amount: a few/a little (learners often confuse these with few/little), several, a couple of, a bit of, a number of etc.
  • Cardinal numbers: zero (quite rare as determiner), one, two, etc. In some analyses these may not be treated as determiners.^[1]
  • Other phrases expressing precise quantity: a pair of, five litres of, etc.
  • Words and phrases expressing multiples or fractions: half, half of, double, twice, three times, twice as much, etc. Those like double and half (without of) are generally used in combination with definite determiners (see Combinations of determiners below).
  • Words expressing maximum, sufficient or zero quantity: all, both, enough, sufficient, no.
  • Note that many of these quantifiers can be modified by adverbs and adverbial phrases such as almost, over, more than, less than, when the meaning is appropriate.
• Words that enumerate over a group or class, or indicate alternatives:
  • each, every (note that every can be modified by adverbs such as almost and practically, whereas each generally cannot)
  • any (as in any dream will do; see also under indefinite determiners above), either, neither
• Personal determiners:
  • The words you and we/us, in phrases like we teachers; you guys can be analysed as determiners.^[2][3]

Examples:

"As all we teachers know . . ."

"Us girls must stick together. " (informal)

These examples can be contrasted with a similar but different use of pronouns in an appositional construction, where the use of other pronouns is also permitted but the pronouns cannot be preceded by the (pre-) determiner "all".^[2].

Examples:

"I/we, the undersigned, . . . , "

"We, the undersigned, . . . , "

but not

• All we, the undersigned, . . ."

• Other cases:
  • The words such and exclamative what (these are followed by an indefinite article when used with a singular noun, as in such a treat, what a disaster!)
  • Noun phrases used as determiners, such as this colour and what size (as in I like this colour furniture; What size shoes do you take?)
  • Words such as same, other, certain, different, only, which serve a determining function, but are grammatically more likely to be classed simply as adjectives, in that they generally require another determiner to complete the phrase (although they still come before other adjectives). Note that the indefinite article in combination with other is written as the single word another.

Consult Wiktionary for more information on the meanings and usage of the words listed here. It also contains a fairly complete list of words that can be classed as determiners in English.

Zero determiner

In some contexts a complete noun phrase can exist without any determiner (or with "zero determiner"). The main types of such cases are:

• with plural or uncountable nouns used to refer to a concept or members of a class generally: cars are useful (but the cars when specific cars are being referred to); happiness is contagious (but the happiness when specific happiness is referred to, as in the happiness that laughter engenders...).
• with plural or uncountable nouns used to refer to some unspecified amount of something: there are cats in the kitchen; I noticed water on the floor (here it is also possible to use some cats, some water).
• with many proper names: Tom Smith, Birmingham, Italy, Jupiter.
• with singular common nouns in some common expressions: smiling from ear to ear, leaving town today.

For more information, see English articles.

Combinations of determiners

Determiners can be used in certain combinations. Common examples are listed below:

• A definite determiner can be followed by certain quantifiers (the many problems, these three things, my very few faults).
• The words all and both can be followed by a definite determiner (all the green apples, both the boys), which can also be followed by a quantifier as above (all the many outstanding issues).
• The word all can be followed by a cardinal number (all three things).
• The word some can be followed by a cardinal number (some eight packets, meaning "approximately eight").
• Words and phrases expressing fractions and multiples, such as half, double, twice, three times, etc. can be followed by a definite determiner (half a minute, double the risk, twice my age, three times my salary, three-quarters the diameter, etc.
• The words such and exclamative what can be followed by an indefinite article (as mentioned in the section above).
• The word many can be used with the indefinite article and a singular noun (many a night, many an awkward moment).
• The words each and every can be followed by a cardinal number or other expression of definite quantity (each two seats, every five grams of flour).

To specify a quantity within a definite class (as opposed to a definite class of a given quantity), it is often possible to use a quantifier in pronoun form (often identical to the determiner form), followed by of and a definite determiner. For example, three of the mice, few of my enemies, none of these pictures, much of John's information. An alternative construction with possessives is to place of and the pronoun form of the possessive after the noun: few enemies of mine, much information of John's.
As with other parts of speech, it is often possible to connect determiners of the same type with the conjunctions and and or: his and her children, two or three beans.