The role and use of determiners in English is to provide details of noun they modify in terms of quantity, identity or ownership. They usually answers the questions like “whose?”, ” how many/much?”, etc. In terms of “Articles”, all articles are called determiners but not all determiners are called articles. Pronouns, adjectives and articles are major types of determiners’ and they function to determine specificity of the noun in sentence.
Category of determiners
1. Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives: This, That These,Those etc. used to indicate which one noun is being refered. For example, this pen, that house, etc.
2. Universal determiners
Universal determiners: all, both are used to express a universal quantity.
3. Distributive determiners
Distributive determiners each, every are used to express how people or things are distributed, divided, or shared.
4. Possessive determiners
Possessive determiners my, our, his, her, their, your are used to indicate the ownership of something. For example, his bike, his house, ours dog, etc.
5. Existential determiners
Existential determiners like some, away are used to presence of something. For example, there is some butter in cake.
6. Quantifying determiners
Quantifying determiners cardinal and ordinal like : one, two, three and first, second and third, etc. are used to answer “how much/many?”
Other major determiners are like:
- Disjunctive determiners — either, neither.
- Degree determiners — many, much, few, little.
- Pre-determiners — those determiners come before another determiners. — double, half of, one fourth, such, both
- Sufficiency determiners — enough, sufficient, adequate.
- Interrogative and relative determiners — which, what, that etc.
Role and importance of determiners
Determiner is a type of grammatical unit used to introduce noun or noun phrase. Besides, it is used to give information about the things mentioned. It clarifies the whereabouts of noun used in the phrase or sentence. But, determiners aren’t used after the noun or head.
- A book
- That player
- Either option
- Three solutions
- Every attempt
- These people etc.
These are some examples showing the position and types of determiners in the noun phrase.
Difference between adjective and determiners
Determiners looks like adjectives and often replace adjectives in the english sentences. But actually, there are some key differences which makes viable grounds to seperate them from adjectives.
- Adjectives are describing words which qualify nouns in sentences. Whereas, determiners provide mere information of ownership, quantity.
- Adjectives alone can be used as subject complement but determiners can’t.
- We can modify the degree of adjectives but not determiners.
- We can remove adjectives from sentences without disturbing sense of sentences. In case of determiners, it will loose natural sense of sentences.
These are some grounds by which determiners differ from adjectives.
Position of determiners in sentence
It is important to note that determines cannot be placed after noun (head) in the phrasal structure. It is used before noun or head of the noun phrase. But, in a single noun phrase, more than one determiners are possible. Here are possibilities of more than one determines in a single phrase.
Pre, post, and central position
In tthe english grammar, “determiners” are placed before, in the central or after the noun. Here are some useful structure of the position of the determiners.
- Pre – determiners + noun — a book.
- Post determiners + noun.
- Pre + post + noun — all the people.
- Pre + central + noun.
- Central + post + noun.
- Pre + central + post + noun — all these little children
This is how determiners are so useful in English language in making communication more meaningful.