Determiners
1 Determiners are words like the, my, this, some, either, every, enough, several.
Determiners come at the beginning of noun phrases, but they are not adjectives.
the moon
a nice day
my fat old cat
this house
every week
several young students
We cannot usually put two determiners together. We can say the house, my house or this house, but not –the my house or the this house or this my house.
2 There are two groups of determiners:
Group A
a/an the
my your his her its our your their one’s whose
this these that those
Group B
some any no
each every either neither
much many more most little less least
few fewer fe enough several
all both half
what whatever which whichever
3 If we want to put a group B determiner before a group A determiner, we have to use Of,
group B determiner + group A determiner
some of the people
each of my children
neither of these doors
most of the time
which of your records
enough of those remarks
Before of we use none, not no, and every one, not every.
none of my friends
every one of these books We can leave out of after all, both and half.
all (of) his ideas both (of) my parents
4 We can use group B determiners alone (without nouns). We can also use them with of before pronouns.
‘Do you know Orwell’s books?’ ‘Yes, I’ve read several.’
‘Would you like some water?’ ‘I’ve got some, thanks.’
neither of them most of us which of you