Determiners

 Determiners :- 

                                A determiner signals the coming of a noun in a sentence.

 Determiners fall into the following categories:

i)-  Articles:-  a, an, the

ii)- Possessives :- my, our, your, his, her, their, its

iii)-  Demonstratives :-  this, that, these, those

•  These are used to point out people or things.

        e.g. This dress is black. That girl is beautiful.

iv)-  distributives:- each, every, either, neither

• They refer to each member of a class separately:

          e.g. You have met seven boxers . Each boy is smart/Every girl is beautiful.

V) Number expressions :- 

another, many, several, some, any, no, few, enough,

a number of, a lot of, lots of, plenty of, some of, many of,

one, two, three ... (cardinal numbers)

vi)-  Quantifiers :- 

much" some, no, any, little, enough,

a lot of, lots of, plenty of, much of, some of

vii)-  Interrogatives :-  what, which

• They combine with nouns to form interrogative expressions used in questions:

e.g.     What colour is the earth?

           Which girl is the tallest?

 Differences between Adjectives and Determiners :- 

i) The form of adjectives can change,

            tall  -    taller   - tallest

Determiners, on the other hand, have an invariant form.

a boy, the girl

ii) An adjective can be used before a noun, or as a complement to 'to be'. But

determiner comes only before a noun.

adjective                                                    determiner

A good book. This book is good.           my/every book

iii) More than one adjective can be used to modify a noun, but more than

one determiner is not allowed in a noun phrase.

She is a tall, beautiful girl. (but not, an every book.)

iv) A determiner always comes before an adjective, not after it.

a blue pen.

her new hat.

                                  -:-Determiners: Usage-:-

Derminers of number/quantity

A. Some and any

i) some is used with affirmative verbs:

For Example:-  I have got some milk. (not, any milk)

                         He has got some good friends. (not, any friends)

ii) any is used with negative verbs:

For Example:-   I haven't got any gold. (not some gold)

                         She hasn't got any dogs. (not some dogs)

Note: any is used with negative adverbs as well:

hardly, scarcely, barely,

never, neither, nor, seldom, too

For Example:- He has hardly any money.

                        She has never written any poems.

                       He is too poor to buy any gold rings.

                        They seldom go for any function.

But enough takes some, because it is positive in meaning:

For Example:-     She is rich enough to buy some gold rings.

iii) any is used after if or whether and expressions of doubt:

For Example:-  Ring me up if you need any help. (not some)

                         I don't think you will have any difficulty here. (not some)

                        asked her if/whether she had any money with her. (not some)

iv) Either some or any can be used in ordinary questions:

For Example:-      Have you got some ink?

                            Have you got any ink?

A question like this is indifferent to the response, so the reply can be either positive

(yes) or negative (no):

   For Example:-   Will you buy some fish? Yes, I will. No, I won't.

                              Have you got any milk? Yes, I have. No, I haven't.

v) A question expressing request takes some:

For Example:-   Could you give me some milk, please? (not any milk)

vi) A question expecting a positive response takes some:

For Example:-  Have you got some eggs? Yes, I have.

vii) In an affirmative sentence any means 'no matter who/which/what', i.e., 'no

one in particular':

For Example:-  Any option is feasible.

                          You may call on me any day you like.

viii) some can be used with a singular countable noun that is vague or unknown:

For Example:-    Some gentleman is waiting to see you.

ix) some can be used before definite numbers to mean 'approximately' or 'about':

For Example:-   There are some twenty people at the gate.

x) some can be used before a noun to mean considerable number or amount or extent:

For Example:-  That is some help/relief/satisfaction.

                        He is really some poet/singer.

Note: Any is not possible in place of some in any of the cases from viii-x.

a) not any/no any

For Example:-  no any is never used instead of not any.

                           She hasn't got any rings. (not no any rings).

b) no/not any

For Example:-   No or not any can be used after have, but have got usually takes not any, not no:

                          He hasn't got any friends. (not He has got no friends.)

c) some/any/no +noun

They can be used as adjectives of number and as adjectives of quantity. So they can be used with a countable or an uncountable noun. With countable nouns, the form is plural:

For Example:-   She has some friends.

                         He doesn't need any money.

                         They did not sell any calendars.

                         She has no toys.

But the noun is in the singular form when not any/no means 'not even one/not a single':

For Example:- He has no telephone (not even one car)

                        She has no umbrella. (not even one umbrella)

                        He hasn't got any house. (not even one house.)

So the choice of a singular or plural noun depends on the meaning of no/any i.e., 'not some/not one'.

 No and none

i) no behaves like a determiner but none doesn't, so we can use no + noun but not none + noun:

For Example:-  He has no gold. (not none gold)

                          This chair has no arms. (not none arms)

ii) no «noun can be used to express contrast/the opposite:

For Example:- He is no scholar. (He is not a scholar)

                            She is no beauty. (She is not beautiful)

Notice that in this construction the noun does not take alan:

He is no a leader.

iii) no + good

In this construction good is treated as a noun because by origin it is a noun meaning advantage; so no is used as determiner.

For Example:- It's no good repenting now.

All and both

i) These are predeterminers and are therefore followed by a determiner.

For Example:-  All the boys are playing.

                         Both these cars are white.

                         All his friends deserted him.

Another/other

i) another is always used with a singular noun:

For Example:- Tell me another story.

                       He is now engaged to another girl.

ii) Other meaning 'the second of the two' takes a singular noun:

For Example:-   The other bank of this river is very dirty.

ii) other or the other can take a singular or plural noun:

For Example:- I will talk to you some other time.

                       John is intelligent but the other boys are dull.

Note: another is not used with an or the because it is a determiner:

For Example:-  I would like another cup of tea. (not, an another)

                     This pen is broken. Give me another please. (not an another/the another one)

 

Much and many

i) much is used before singular uncountable nouns to denote quantity:

For Example:- . He hasn't got much courage. (not, many)

                         I haven't got much time. (not, many)

ii) many is used before plural countable nouns to denote number:

For Example:-  I haven't got many passes. (not, much)

                       She hasn't got many 'options. (not, much)

iii) much and many are used with how to ask questions:

For Example:-       How many dogs have you got?

                             How much coffee do you want?

iv) much and many are usually used in negative and interrogative sentences:

For Example:- There isn't much squash in this bottle.

                        There aren't many girls in my class.

                      Was much money wasted over the project?

                     Were many men hurt in the firing?

v) many modifying an object in affirmative sentences is preferably replaced by these determiners.

a number of, a lot of, lots of, plenty of

For Example:-  She bought a number of combs.

                        He has got a lot of shoes.

                        She has bought plenty of vegetables.

vi) much modifying an object in an affirmative sentence is usually replaced by these determiners.

a lot of, plenty of, a large quantity of,

a good deal of, a great deal of

For Example:-  We have had a lot of rain this year.

                         He has plenty ofleisure.

vii) much and many are used in affirmative sentences when they are modified by so as/too/how.

For Example:-

so many boys ,so much noise

as many questions, as much gold

too many problems, too much pain

how many teachers ,how-much butter

Talking about the past causes him too much pain.

viii) many an/a takes a singular countable noun:

For Example:- Many a tree has been cut down.

                     Many an egg is rotten.

In common speech, however, many alan is rarely used. A lot of/plenty of is used instead.

For Example:-  Plenty of trees have been cut down.

Few and little

i) few denotes number. Plural countable nouns are used with few, a few, and the few:

For Example:-    I have few hopes in life

                          The children played for a few minutes.

                         They sold the few dogs that they had.

ii) little denotes quantity, so singular uncountable nouns are used with little, a little, and the little:

For Example:-   She has little confidence in herself.

                          All I ask for is a little help from you.

                          I have spent the little money I had.

iii) few and little are used in a negative sense because they mean 'not any'

For Example:-  He has few friends. (i.e., no friends)

                         He has little money. (i.e., no money)

    a few and a little are positive, they mean some:

For Example:- He has a few friends. (i.e., some friends)

                        He has a little money. (i.e., some money)

iv) the few means 'not many, but all that are there', the little means 'not much, but all that is there'.

For Example:- I have already read the few books that I have. (not a few)

                       He has spent the little money he had. (not a little)

the few/the little + noun is usually followed by a relative clause.

For Example:- The few statues (that) he bought are damaged.

                            She has sold the few horses (that) she used to keep.

Distributives each and every

i) each is used for two or more people/things.

ii) every is used for more than two people/things. Every is not used of only two.

For Example:-  I saw two movies last week. Each of them had a murder plot. (not every movie)

There are six electronics shops in this street. Each shop is selling radios at a discount. (not every shop)

Note: emphatic each

each is made emphatic by using each and every:

For Example:- Each and every vote is valuable.

But neither every nor each and every can be used when the reference is to only two people or things.

iii) Both each and every take a singular countable noun, not an uncountable noun:

For Example:- Each city in India is famous for its variety. (not, cities)

                        Every ritual has a meaning. (not, rituals)

iv) Every can be used with plural expressions indicating 'intervals in time and space':

For Example:-  every three hours, every few kilometers

                          He has to take medicine every four hours.

                         She was stopped every two kilometers by her fans. (each is not possible here).

v) each + of can function as a predeterminer, every + of cannot.

For Example:-  Each of the boys/them has a bag.

                         not, Every of the boys/them has a hat.

Either and neither

i) either means one of the two:

For Example:- You can take either half of this apple.

ii) neither means 'not one nor the other of the two':

For Example:-There are two reports about the accident. Neither report is true.

    Thus both either and neither are used for only two people or things.

iii) When the number is greater than two, either/neither is replaced by any:

For Example:-  I have six copies of the novel. You can take any copy you like.

                         I can't spare any copies of the novel.

iv) either and neither take a singular countable noun:

either side, neither report.

Note: a) either and both

Either means 'both/each of the two' when the existence of the one implies the existence of the other, 

i.e. when two things are complementary to eachother: '

For Example:- either side of a road (both sides)

                        either bank of a river (both banks)

 

Demonstratives

In English an adjective has the same form for both singular and plural nouns but demonstratives show agreement of number between a demonstrative adjective and its noun:

i) this/that takes a singular noun, these/those takes a plural noun.

For Example:-  This car is brown. These cars are blue.

                      That girl is tall. Those girls are tall.

Note: these or those kind of or sort of is permissible only in colloquial style:

I don't like these kind of movies.

Possessives

Possessives are like adjectives in that they can come in a prenominal (i.e. before a noun) position and also in the complement position of be. But unlike adjectives, possessives have distinct forms in these two positions.

We may refer to these two uses of possessives as

a) the determiner use

For Example:- This is my book.

b) the predicative use.

For Example:-This book is mine.

                    not, This is mine house.

ii) A (determiner) possessive is made emphatic by using own/very own after it:

For Example:- This is my own car.

                        That is her very own house.

iii) A possessive + noun denoting the part of one's body or dress/clothing is preferably replaced by the + noun:

For Example:- I hit him on his head. (I hit him on the head.)

                       He caught her by her hair. (He caught her by the hair.)

                       I caught him by his collar. (I caught him by the collar.)

Interrogatives:-

i) What is used to ask general questions about colour/shape/size etc.:

For Example:- What colour is the sky?

                         What size (of shoes) do you want?

Note:

 a) what + age/length/height etc. is normally expressed by how +

adjective:

For Example:- What age is she? = How old is she?

                        What height are you? = How tall are you?

b) But what + colour/shape/size can't be replaced by how:

For Example:-  What colour is gold?

                         What shape is this table?