Lecture 6 Determiners (I)

1. Lecture 6 Determiners (I)

2. Teaching Contents • 6.1 Collocations between determiners and nouns • 6.2 Collocations between determiners • 6.3 A comparative study of some determiner usage

3. 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.

4. 6.1 Collocations between determiners and nouns • 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 6.2 Collocations between determiners • 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: one-third, 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,

8. 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 • 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

9. ---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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. “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.

15. 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.

16. 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.)

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 6.3 A comparative study of some determiner usage • 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

23. --- 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.

24. 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

25. 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.)

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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

31. “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!

32. “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.