Lecture 6
Determiners (I)
Teaching Contents
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6.1 Collocations between determiners
and nouns
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6.2 Collocations between determiners
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6.3 A comparative study of some
determiner usage
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Words that precede any pre-modifying adjectives in a noun
phrase and which denote such referential meanings as specific
reference, generic reference, definite quantity or indefinite
quantity are referred to as determiners.
Determiners include: 1)articles 2) possessive determiners 3)
genitive nouns 4) demonstrative determiners 5) relative
determiners 6) interrogative determiners 7) indefinite
determiners 8) cardinal and ordinal determiners 9) fractional
and multiplicative numerals 10) quantifiers.
6.1 Collocations between determiners
and nouns
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The choice of determiners is closely related to the
three classes of nouns: singular count nouns, plural
count nouns and non-count nouns. These three classes
of nouns need appropriate determiners to collocate
with.
(1) Determiners with all three classes of nouns
Possessive determiners, genitive nouns, definite article,
some, any, no, the other, whose
--- his book, his books, his money
(2) Determiners with plural count nouns only
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both, two, three, etc. another two/three, many, (a) few, several, these,
those, a (great) number of
--- many books, these visitors
(3) Determiners with singular count nouns only
a(n), one, another, each, every, either, neither, many a, such a
--- each student, every student, another student
(4) Determiners with non-count nouns only
a (little) bit of, a great amount of, a great deal of, (a) little,
much
--- a little money, much money
(5) Determiners with singular and plural count nouns only
the first, the second, the last, the next
--- the next meeting, the next meetings
(6) Determiners with singular and non-count nouns only
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this, that, (the) least
--- the least sign, the least knowledge
(7) Determiners with plural and noncount nouns only
A lot of, lots of, plenty of, enough, more, most, such, other,
less (non-count, plural nouns(inflm.))
---plenty of books, plenty of water
6.2 Collocations between determiners
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1) According to their potential position, determiners fall
into three subclasses:
a) predeterminers: all, both, half; multiplicative numeral:
double, twice, three times, etc.; fractional numerals: onethird, two-fifths, etc. what, such (a/an)
b) Central determiners: the articles, demonstrative
determiners, possessive determiners, genitive nouns, some,
any, no, every, each, either, neither, enough, what(ever),
which(ever), whose,etc.
c) Postdeterminers: cardinal numerals, ordinal numerals,
(ordinary cardinal numerals) next, last, other, another,
many, much, (a) few, (a) little,
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fewer, (the) fewest, less, (the) least, more, most, several,
plenty of, a lot of, lots of, a great / large / good
number of, a great / good deal of, a large / small
amount of, such
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2) Predeterminers and central determiners are mutually
exclusive. No two of them ever occur together in a noun
phrase:
*all both students, these your students
Postdeterminers are not mutually exclusive. Two or more of
them can co-occur in a noun phrase:
--- last few weeks, several hundred students
Word order of determiners
The normal order: predeterminers + central determiners +
postdeterminer
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--- All the four teachers ( Pr + C + Po )
--- Half his lecture ( Pr + C )
--- All other students ( Pr + Po )
--- His many friends (C + Po)
--- Another five weeks ( Po + Po)
--- Few such cases ( Po + Po )
(4) The lexical meanings of “last, past, next” vary before or
after the cardinal numeral:
--- first two chapters 头两章
--- two first chapters 两个第一章
--- last two sentences 最后两个句子
--- two last sentences 两个最后的句子
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The last two pages (= The last and penultimate page
of a book) are missing.
The two last pages (The last page in each of two
books) are missing.
The last two pages of this book are missing.
*The two last pages of this book are missing.
The second last page is missing.(= the page next to
the last)
*The last second page is missing.
According to the lexical meaning, some postdeterminers can
only be put before or after the other postdeterminer:
a) ordinal numeral/ordinary ordinal numeral + cardinal
numeral/ (a) few, fewer, several, most, more, many, much, (a)
little, less, least.
e.g. He will stay here for the first 3 days of the month.
Where will you be during the next few weeks?
b) cardinal numeral/ (a) few, fewer, several, most, more, many,
much, (a) little, less, least + such, more, less
e.g. I have two more hats than he does.
Many such regulations are also applicable to us.
--- more: two/many/few/little/several more
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Half :
Half the / half of the + pl. n. / [U] n.
e.g. Half (of) the pears are rotten.
Half (of) the bread is stale.
Half (of) + proper n.
e.g. Half (of) London was buzzing with gossip.
Half a(n)+ singular n. / a half + singualr n. (Am.E)
e.g. We need half a kilo/ a half kilo of butter.
I’ve been waiting here for half an hour/ half a day.
a half hour/ a half day.
Sometimes, "a half + singular n.” can omit “a”
e.g. She has (a) half knowledge of English.
Both:
I got both ((of) the) vases in Spain.
Both ((of) these) parties shared one basic belief.
Both of + possessive determiner + pl. [C] n.
Both (of) his parents died young.
Both vs. two
Both (the) and both of the can be replaced by “the
two”, but the former refer to two things or persons
considered together and the latter refers to two
things or persons considered separately.
e.g. Both the students / The two students were
excellent.
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“Both of + n./pro.” and “two of + n./pro.” cannot
be exchanged, because the former denotes appositive
and the latter denotes partial meaning.
e.g. Both of the students are excellent.
(two students totally)
Two of the students are excellent.
(two in three or more students)
But when “the two of + pro.” denotes appositive
meaning, it equals “both of + pronoun”.
e.g. The two of them / Both of them are in good health.
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Restrictions :
1) all, both and half
They can appear before articles, possessive determiners
and demonstrative determiners, but not before “every,
(n)either, each, some, any, no, enough”.
e.g. all the year, both my books, half that apple
*all every year, both enough books, half either apple.
2) Most and last
a) When “most” means “the majority or the largest part”,
it cannot appear after central determiners; neither can
it have “the” when used as a pronoun.
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e.g. *The most/ Most farmers are still using the old
methods.
*The most / Most meat is expensive
When used as the superlative degree of “many, much”,
it can have a central determiner.
e.g. You’ve got the most money, so you can pay for the
rest of us.
George eats the most desserts.(= George eats more
desserts than the rest of us.)
b) When “last” means “the one before this” (上/前一),
it cannot have the central determiner; however, when
denoting “most recent”, it can.
e.g. We completed the project last year/ *the last year.
He came here last Sunday.
His last letter came to me two weeks ago.
3) Some, much
Some, much are central determiners, while “few, many,
several and little” are postderterminers. So we cannot
use “some, much” to denote quantity in noun phrases
with other central determiners.
e.g. *His some/several friends often come to see him.
I’m sorry to have given you *the/so much trouble.
4) Every, what
When such central determiners as “every, no, any” as
well as “what, which, whose” precede postdeterminers,
they cannot have predeterminers.
e.g. every other line---*half every other line
No three books ---*all no three books
Any other cars --- *both any other cars
What little help -- *all what little help
Whose forty dollars -- *double whose dollars
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Wh-words such as “what, whose” cannot be used with
“all, both, half”
e.g. I’m interested in *all what plan / all of what plans
she has made.
Multiplicative and fractional numerals can precede
“what”.
Generally, multiplicative numerals cannot be used as
nouns (*+of +what), but “double” can, preceded by
“the”.
e.g. He eats twice what / *twice of what you eat.
He eats three times what / * three times of what you eat.
It costs double what / the double of what it did.
Fractional numerals can function as nouns without
“the” before it.
e.g. She could pay only one-third (of) what she owed.
When “twice” denotes time frequency instead of
multiple, it is an adverb and functions as an adverbial.
e.g. We meet twice a week.
5) such
no/any +such + [U] n. / pl. n.
e.g. No such help has been given to me.
Any such factors should be considered.
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No/any + such + singular n.
e.g. *No such a thing/ No such thing has ever happened.
*Any such a computer / Any such computer will meet
my need.
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6.3 A comparative study of some determiner
usage
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1）Many , much : negative and interrogative sentences.
a lot of, lots of, plenty of: affirmative sentence (informal
styles)
a large number of, numerous: affirmative sentence
(formal styles)
Many ,much : affirmative sentence
In an object clause (whether/if)
--- I wonder if many students will have time to work
b) In a noun phrase composed of “how, too, so/as +
many/ much + head
--- I forget how many there are.
 --- We have as many copies as you need.
 c) In a noun phrase functioning as subject
 --- Much work has been done.
 --- There is much milk left in the glass.
 2) (a) few, (a) little
 Less / least (little): go with mass nouns. Occasionally used
with plural nouns in informal writing: (fewer: fml.)
 --- I’ve got less friends this year than ever before.
 3) some, any
a) In negative sentences and questions
b) Some + singular [C] n. = a certain n.
any + singular [C] n. = every n.
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4) all, both, every, each, either, neither, any
The negative forms of all and both are respectively none
and neither.
None: no one, personal and impersonal.
No one: personal only
--- None of us are /is afraid of it.
--- There is none of it left.
--- No one fails the examination.
--- Neither sentence is correct English
All vs. whole
1) All , whole + pl. n.
All ((of) the) men must leave their coats here, but all (the)
Women may take theirs with them.
all + pl. n. =every n. Whole + pl. n. = complete/entire
e.g. All Indian tribes suffered from settlement in
America. (= Every Indian tribe…)
Whole Indian tribes were killed off. (= Complete Indian
tribes were killed off; nobody was left alive in these
tribes.)
2) All, whole + singular n. / [U] n.
a) all, all the, the whole + day, night, week, year, summer,
winter; * +hour/century
e.g. I waited all (the) week/the whole week for him to
answer.
In structures with nouns denoting time, “all” cannot be
pro.
?I waited all of the week for him to answer.
In negative sentences, “all” just precedes zero article.
e.g. I haven’t seen him all day / *all the day.
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b) When “all the”, “the whole” can be used with singular
nouns that can be divided, they can be replaced by “all
of the” (“the” cannot be omitted).
e.g. He ate the whole loaf / all (of) the loaf by himself.
“All of the / the whole + singular n.” is more often than
“all the + singular n.”.
e.g. I haven’t read all of the book / the whole book.
“All the” cannot be used with singular [C] n. that be be
divided, so “the whole” is used.
e.g. *All the hall / The whole hall resounded with
applause.
Each vs. every:
1) “Each” and “every” can be exchanged when preceding
“time” and “one”.
e.g. Every / Each time I wash the car it rains.
Every one / Each (one) of the students should have
his/their own books.
2) “Every” cannot be replaced by “each” when…
a) “every” is used with such abstract nouns as “assistance,
kindness, confidence, encouragement, effort” and
denotes “as possible; the greatest”(一切可能的，最
大的)
e.g. He gave us every / *each assistance/encouragement.
He made every/*each attempt to go there.
b) not, almost, nearly, practically + every
every + single
e.g. Not every / *each house on the island has electricity.
Almost every /*each building was damaged in the
earthquake.
I answer every/*each single letter I receive.
c) “every” means “once in each” (每隔…；每逢…)
e.g. He comes to see us every 4 days /*each 4 days.
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However, “every + cardinal numeral + pl. [C] n.” can be
“every + ordinal numeral + singular [C] n.”.
e.g. He comes to see us every 4th day.
Change the oil in the car every 5000 miles /*each 5000
miles / every 5000th mile.
every other line (day) = 每隔一行/天，即每第二行/
每逢第二天
Every third line (day)=每隔二行/天，即每第三行/每
逢第三天
Every fourth line (day)=每隔三行/天，即每第四行/
每逢第四天
Every fifth day/year=每隔四天/年，即每逢第五天/
年或每五天/年
“every + 3 + pl. n.” can be replaced by “every +
third/other +singular n.”, but “every + 2 + pl. n.”
cannot be “second + singular n.”.
e.g. We go to the movies every 3 weeks/ every third
week/ every other week.
Take some medicine every two days / *every second day
“Every other” can also mean “all the others”(其余的).
Here “every + 3 + pl. n.” and “every + other +
singular n.” cannot be exchanged.
e.g. Every other girl /* Every three girls in the class got
a present but me!
“Every” denotes three or more than three people or
things; “each” refers to two or more than two people
or things. So when referring to three or more than
three they can be exchanged; when denoting “two”
only “each” is used.
e.g. Every / Each man in the crowd raised his hand.
Each / *Every sex has its own psychological
characteristics.