Lecture 6Determiners (I)

What is determiner?

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 quantityare referred to as determiners.

Classification:Determiners, as a class of words, include:

1. Articles (definite article, indefinite article, zero article)

2. Possessive determiners: my, your, his, her

3. Genitive nouns: John’s, my friend’s

4. Demonstrative determiners: this, that, these

5. Relative determiners: whose, which

6. Interrogative determiners: what, which, whose

7. Indefinite determiners: no, some, each, several

8. Cardinal and Ordinal numerals:

9. Multiplicative and Fractional numerals

10. Quantifiers: a lot of, plenty of, a large amount of

Problems

The head of a noun phrase limits the choice of determiners, so there is the problem of collocations between determiners and nouns

and when more than one determiner occurs in the noun phrase, there is the problem of word order between determiners.

6.1 Collocations between Determiners and Nouns

The choice of determiners is closely related to what might be called the three classes of nouns: singular count nouns, plural count nouns and noncount nouns. These three classes of nouns demand appropriate determiners to collocate with.

1. Why is there _______ traffic on the streets in February than in may? A. less B. fewer C. few D. little

2. On account of the typhoon_______ shipment will arrive this week. A. neither B. all C. both D. these

3. They paid _______ money for the machine than I expected. A. little B. less C. much D. fewer

4. There are trees on ________ side of the street. A. such a B. both C. some D. each

A

A

B

D

5. Have you got _______ copies to go round? A. the other B. enough C. a little D. much

6. I saw_______ cars out side the building. A. a little B. any C. lots of D. neither

7. there’s _______ water in the bottle. A. few B. a number of C. plenty of D. any

8. I’d like ________ paper. A. a few B. several C. a bit of D. these

B

C

C

C

9. There are _______ mistakes in the paper . A. the B. a little C. much D. a few

10. Do they have_______ air-conditioners for cooling the room in summer? A. many a B. enough C. a great deal of D. a bit of

11. Don’t worry about the seats. There are ____ chairs in the room. A. plenty of B. any C. both D. most

12. There is ________ iron in this mine than in that one. A. much B. a great deal of C. less D. a lot of

D

B

A

C

13. _______ work has to be done before the plant goes into operation. A. Much B. Double C. A number of D. Neither

14. He wrote_______ essays on Victorian novels in his class. A. the next B. the most C. the other D. the more

15. The model worker had _______ thought of his own interests. A. the last B. less C. the least D. another

A

B

C

16. There must be _______ empty talk but more hard work. A. fewer B. no C. the least D. less

17. He has published _______ short stories in English. A. a great amount of B. a number of C. another D. many a

18. We had _______ rainfalls last summer. A. too much B. little C. a little D. only several

19. ________ care would have prevented the accident. A. Much B. Little C. A little D. A few

D

B

D

C

20. The students spent _______ their time working in the fields. A. both B. most C. more D. half

D

6.2 Collocations between Determiners

There is a problem of word order between determiners if a noun phrase contains more than one determiner.

According to their potential position, determiners fall into three subclasses: Central Determiners, Pre-determiners and Post Determiners.

The Order:all the four teachersall your three booksall these last few dayshalf his lecture

those last few months

several hundred guests

all other studentssuch a misfortune

some such alloy

CentralPre Post

1. The additional work will take _______ weeks. A. the other B. another five C. other five D. the more

2. He did it in _______ time it took me. A. the one-third B. half a C. the double D. one-third the

3. I saw _______ boys at the cinema. A. the both B. many a C. both the D. the several

4. ________ candidates are girls. A. Half the B. The half C. Their D. Half a

B

D

C

A

5. He was on leave _______ days. A. the few last B. few another C. few other D. the last few

6. _______ friends usually speak highly of him. A. His some B. His many C. Many his D. Some his

7. Please serve me _______ soup. A. more some B. the less C. more the D. some more

8. ________ alloy may be used to replace copper. A. Such a B. Some such C. Such some D. Several such

D

B

D

B

9. Please send _______ samples to London by air. A. these enough B. five these C. enough these D. these five10. Are you going to buy _______ rice? A. all these B. these all C. all this D. both these

11. They want at least _______ salaries. A. their double B. double their C. enough their D. their enough

12. ________ dictionary is enough for me. A. Such one B. One such C. Such a one D. One such a

D

C

B

B

13. _______ factors should be considered. A. These all B. Such all C. All such D. Some these

14. _______ evening he did enjoy himself immensely. A. The first few B. The few first C. The first some D. Some the first

15. _______ meat is tainted. A. That one-third B. One-third that C. Such a D. Few such

16. ________ cases has been reported. A. Such few B. Such some C. Few such D. Some these

C

A

B

C

17. _______ boys were in the classroom. A. All five other B. Other all C. All the more D. All the other five

18. _______ recommendation has so far been made by the technicians. A. Several such B. No such a C. Such no D. No such

19. They are not likely to agree to _______ propositions. A. other any B. other all C. all other D. other these

20. He has been staying at home ________ days. A. these all last few B. these last few all C. all these last few D. these last all few

D

D

C

C

6.3 A Comparative Study of Some Determiner Usage

many, much, a lot of, lots of, plenty of

many & much DeterminersIndefinite Pronouns

I’ve told you many times that I hate dishonesty.Many are called but few are chosen.Much information is now transmitted through E-mail.Have you done all these exercise?----No, I haven’t done very many.Did you do much work today?---- No, I didn’t do much.

many ManyMuch

many

much

Many/ much often take such modifiers as how/ too/ so/ as… as

How much money is needed for the project?

I have too many books to carry by myself.

He took so many boxes that he had to call a taxi.

They can spend as much money as they need on the project.

How

too

so

as

In informal style, especially when they do not take any modifiers and do not appear in the subject area

He hasn’t got much money, but he has a lot of / lots of/ plenty of friends.

Are there many animals in the park?---- No, not many---- Yes, quite a lot.

many/ much Negative & Interrogative

a lot of, lots of, plenty of Affirmative

Just as many/ much sometimes carry a non-assertive tone, they are commonly used in the object clause introduced by whether/ if.

I doubt whether /if there’ll be many people at the show on this rainy day.

I wonder whether/ if he has much information on this subject.

2) (a) few, (a) little

• To express the idea of “少” , we can use (a) few/ (a) little. These items can function both as determiners and as indefinite pronouns, but the smallness of the number or amount expressed by a few/ a little denotes a positive evaluation on the part of the speaker, while that expressed by few/ little a negative evaluation.

• When a few is preceded by quite or not, it does not denote the idea of small quantity but that of “a fair number (of)”,. Likewise, a good few also denotes the idea of “a considerable number (of), eg:

• Quite a few of us are getting worried.you’ll have to wait a good few weeks.

• Less/least, as the comparative/ superlative degree of little, commonly go with mass nouns. As mentioned above, in present-day English, less/ least are occasionally used with plural nouns. Note that this occurs only in informal style and that in formal writing, fewer/fewest should be used instead.

3) some, any• To express the idea of “一些” , we can use some/ any. As

an assertive word, some is generally used in affirmative sentences, and any, which is nonassertive word, is generally used in negative or interrogative sentences, in conditional sentences or in sentences with negative implications.

• When some occurs in questions, it is implied that the speaker expects an affirmative answer. For instance, when one is expecting letters, he may ask “Are there some letters for me?” Likewise, when showing hospitality to his guests, the host may ask “Would you like some chocolate cake?”

• When some is followed by a singular count noun, it denotes the idea of no matter which(任何一个 ), eg:

• Some boy has broken a window.Any child can answer that question.

4) all, both, every, each, either, any

• All the items in this group can function both as determiners and as indefinite pronouns with the exception of every which is s determiner only.

• a) to express the idea of “全体” , we can use all and both. All refers to the whole of three r more than three, while both refers to the whole of only two.

• The negative forms of all and both are respectively none and neither. None, which means no one, can be used both for personal and for impersonal reference, while no one for personal reference only, eg:

• None of the students failed the exam.I’ll have none of your stupid ideas.No one in the class failed the exam.

• b) to express the idea of “每个” , we can use every and each. Every cannot be used to speak of only two people or things, or in phrases like “each of the boys”/ “the boys each”, eg:

• Each side fo the street was crowded with people.Each/ Every side of the square was crowded with people.

• Another difference in the usage of every and each is that when thinking of a whole group, we use every, and when thinking of one at a time, we use each. Compare:

• We want every child (=all the children) to succeed.Each child will find his own way to succeed.

• The queen shook hands with each player in turn after the game.

• c) to express the idea of “任何一个” , we can use any or either. Any refers to three or more than three people or things, while either to two people or things only.

• In phrases like “on either side”/”at either end”, the word either is used to mean “both” ---“on both sides/ at both ends”:

• There are warehouses on either side of the river.He got off the train with a bundle on either arm.