DETERMINERS

Point-wise summary of Chapter 1 regarding Determiners:

• Definition: A determiner is a word placed at the beginning of a noun or noun phrase to indicate its reference and determine what the noun is referring to.
• Articles: These are classified into a and an (used before singular countable nouns) and the (used to refer to specific things).
• Demonstratives: Words like this, that, these, and those are used to point out specific nouns.
• Possessives: These indicate ownership or relationship and include words such as my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.
• Quantifiers (Determiners of Quantity): These indicate how much or how many. Some are used with countable nouns (many, few), some with uncountable nouns (much, little), and some with both (all, some, enough).
• Determiners of Number:
  • Cardinals (e.g., one, two, seventy) tell us about quantity.
  • Ordinals (e.g., first, third) show sequence.
• Distributive Determiners: This category includes either, neither, each, and every. Each refers to individual members, while every refers to members of a group collectively; both take singular verbs.
• Interrogative Determiners: Used to ask questions, these include what (for large/unlimited ranges), which (for limited/small ranges), and whose (referring to a person).
• Classification by Position: Determiners are often used together and follow a specific order in a phrase: Predeterminer → Central Determiner → Postdeterminer.
  • Predeterminers: Include multipliers (twice), fractions (half), and the words all and both.
  • Central Determiners: Include articles, possessives, and demonstratives.
  • Postdeterminers: Include cardinal and ordinal numbers, general ordinals (last, next), and quantifiers (many, few, several).
• Placement of Adjectives: If an adjective is used to describe a noun, it must come after all the determiners in the phrase.

To help visualize the order of determiners, imagine a parade lineup: the Predeterminers are the grand marshals leading at the very front, the Central Determiners are the main floats in the middle, and the Postdeterminers are the marching bands following behind them—all before the guest of honor (the noun) finally appears.