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Determinersandtypesofnoun

deEnglishGrammarToday
Wecannotuseallthedeterminerswithalltypesofnoun.Wecanusesomedeterminerswith
anytypeofnoun,butothersmustbefollowedbycertaintypesofnoun.

Determinersandsingularcountablenouns
Somedeterminerscanonlybeusedwithasingularcountablenoun.Theseare:
a/ananothereacheithereveryneitherone
Wouldyoulikeanotherglassofwater?
Lifegetsmoreexpensiveeveryday.
A: Canwemeetonthe15thor16th?
B: Sorry.Neitherdateisgoodforme.Whataboutthe18th?
Seealso:
Each
Every
Other

Determinersandsingularuncountablenouns
Much,(a)little,lessandleastcanonlybeusedwithasingularuncountablenoun:
Wedidntgetmuchsnowlastwinter.
ThereislittleinformationIcangiveyou,Imafraid.
Wesometimesuselesswithpluralnouns,butthisisnotalwaysconsideredcorrect:
Therewerelesschildrentheretodaythanlastyear.(Therewerefewerchildrenis
consideredcorrect.)
Seealso:
Much
Little,alittle,few,afew
Lessorfewer?

Determinersandsingularcountableoruncountablenouns

Weusethisandthatwithsingularcountableoruncountablenouns,butnotwithplural
nouns.Thisreferstosomethingnearthespeakerthatreferstosomethingfurtheraway:
Thatfilmwasfantastic.(countable)
Thisfurnitureissougly!(uncountable)
Forpluralnouns,weusetheseandthose.
Seealso:
This,that,these,those

Determinersandpluralcountablenouns
Both,many,(a)few,thenumberstwo,three,four,etc.,several,theseandthoseareonly
usedwithpluralnouns:
Itallhappenedmanyyearsago.
Ijusthaveafewphotosofmygrandparents.
Severalitemsweremissingwhenweopenedtheboxtounpackeverything.
Seealso:
Both
Little,alittle,few,afew
Many
Number

Determinersanduncountablenounsorpluralcountablenouns
Somedeterminerscanonlybeusedwithanuncountablenounorwithapluralnoun:

all

some/sm/(weakform)

any(weak
form)

zerodeterminer(i.e.no
determiner)

enough

Wouldyoulikesomejuice,ormilk?(uncountablenoun)
Dowehaveenoughcupsforeverybody?(pluralnoun)
Weneedtobuypaperfortheprinter.(zerodeterminer,uncountablenoun)

Seealso:
All
Enough
Someandany
Such

Determinersandanytypeofnoun
Somedeterminerscanbeusedwithanytypeofnoun,singularorplural,countableor
uncountable.
Determinerswhichcanbeusedinthisway:
1.any(strongformmeaningitdoesntmatterwhich)
2.some(strongformmeaningcertain/particularstressedandpronounced/sm/)
3.which(asaquestionword)
what(asaquestionword)
4.my,your,his,Annas,etc.
5.such
6.the
7.what
8.whose
9.no

countable

uncountable

A: Where
would
youlike
tosit?
B: Any
seatin

Singular

Any
informationyou

thefront
rowwill

cangiveme
aboutthetrains

befine.(I
dont

wouldbevery
useful.

mind
which

Whose
advicedoyou

seat/Its
not

listentomost,
yourparentsor

important
which
seat)

yourteachers?

Whosejacketis
this?
Some

Plural

studentsalways
turnuplatefor

Some
processedmeat

class.(certain
students)

containsahigh
levelofsalt.

Therewereno
childrenatthe

Ihaveno
newsforyou.

hotel.

Seealso:
Someandany

Determinersfollowedbypronouns
Wecanusethesedeterminers+ofbeforepronouns:

(a)few,
fewer

each

many

one,
two,three,etc.

(a)little

either

more

several

another

all

enough
every
one

any

half

both

less

most

some

much

those

neither

which

Wehadtwentyticketstosellandwesoldalloftheminlessthananhour.
A: Whichboxdoyouwant?
B: Eitherofthemwillbefine,thanks.
Wevegotloadsofumbrellasyoucanborrowoneofours.
Seealso:
Both
All

("Determinersandtypesofnoun"deEnglishGrammarTodayCambridgeUniversityPress.)

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