Monday, February 7, 2011

Determiners(25 January 2011)

25 January 2011
On this date, also, another group present their presentation in class about determiners..


DETERMINERS

DEFINITIONS
A determiner qualifies a noun. It makes the reference of the noun more precise.

GROUPS OF DETERMINERS

1)GROUP ' A ' DETERMINERS
   >Articles, demonstrative and possessive are often called group A determiner.
   >They are used to identify things.
   > a)Articles - a, an , the
      b)Demonstrative - this, that, these, those
      c)Possessive - my, our, your, their, her, his, its, one's, whose
  >Two group A determiners cannot be put together.
     Example:
     We can say my car but not the my car.
  >If we have to put the two group A determiners together, we have to use the structure
    a / this  +  noun  +  of mine / yours.
    Example:
    a) this book of mine.
    b) a friend of yours.

2)GROUP ' B ' DETERMINERS
   >Indicate something about quantity.
   >Examples are:
  • some, any, no
  • each, every, either, neither
  • much, many, more, most
  • a little, less, least
  • a few, fewer, fewest
  • all, both, half
  • what, whatever, which, whichever
  • one, two, three, etc.
  >We can put group B determiners together when the combination makes sense.
     Example:
     a)We meet every few days.
     b)Have you got any more rice?

GROUP A  +  GROUP B
Group B determiners can be used directly before nouns without of.
  • Have they got any children?
  • Most people love children.
But if we want to put a Group B determiner before a noun with a Group A determiner, we have to use of.
Compare:
  • some children
  • some of the children
  • neither method
  • neither of these methods
  • most plants
  • most of the plants
IMPORTANT POINTS
We can leave out of after all, both and half when they are followed by nouns.
  • all my friends OR all of my friends
  • both (of) my parents
  • half (of) her income
But note that we cannot leave out of when all, both and half are followed by pronouns.
  • all of us (NOT all us)
  • both of them (NOT both them)
No and every are not used before of; instead we use none and every one.
  • no children
  • none of the children
  • every child
  • every one of the children
GROUP ' A '  +  GROUP ' B '
Certain Group B determiners can be used after Group A determiners. They are: many, most, least, little and few.
  • a little time
  • his many ideas
  • a few questions
  • the most money

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