Determiners

[major_kerina]

These are words go together with nouns. They always go ahead before the nouns in a noun phrase.



Determiners share a common distribution.
They occur in pre-nominal position.
the succubus  their doom  Tom’s day as a girl
Determiners are constituents of a noun phrase.
Determiners modify the head noun ('day' in the case of the last example).
Determiners are generally the first constituent of a NP.
the<--- (determiner) exceptionally boring book <--(head noun)

Sub-Categories
Articles
a, an, the
Possessive Determiners
my  your  his  her  its  our  your (pl)  our (multiples can apply to a single person if zappy helps)
Possessive nouns
Mary’s  children’s 
Demonstratives
this  that  these  those
Indefinites
any  every  some  each  other 
WH- determiners
whose  which  (Whose gender did I change today? Which gender did I leave them as?)

Using Determiners as Substitutes
Some determiners can have a second function--That of  NP substitute.
NP substitutes can take the place of an entire NP; they function just like pronouns.

Let's see some types! (Preforms and Proforms)
Possessive nouns
Richard’s grades are good, but Jim’s are better.
Demonstratives
These articles are informative, but those are more current.
Indefinites (not all of them)
Some students study hard, and some do not.

Review for Exercises
Determiners generally introduce a NP, but NP substitutes are single words that take the place of entire NPs.
Most doctors are competent, but some are not.
Most is a determiner, but some is a NP sub.

Determine if each underlined word below is a determiner or a NP substitute.
His first class starts at 8:00 in the morning. (Determiner - introduces his first class can become "It starts")
Jim’s lawyer wants to file the motion, but Drew’s does not. (Jim's - Determiner, Drew's - true pro-form)
The designers hate these drawings but like those. (The - Determiner, these - determiner inside the noun phrase, those - pro-form for "those drawings")

Determiners are mutually exclusive before the same head; only one can modify a noun.
*my the book   *the this book  *a some book - wrong!
This regularity appears to be violated by some NPs that contain possessive nouns.
the elephant’s trunk - a-okay!!

Word Mobiles! - One chart (phrase structure tree)  and   Another one (apt...)