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DETERMINERS
DETERMINERS
DETERMINERS
Determiners signal (“determine”) that a noun will follow. Unlike adjectives, which also
signal that a noun will follow, determiners cannot add the inflectional morphemes -er
and -est. In addition, because they are function words, determiners do not have other
forms or synonyms. Their "meaning" is their function: to signal that a noun will
follow.
In addition, each adjective may add its comparative (-er) and superlative (-est)
form
Types of determiners
2. possessive nouns / pronouns (Mary’s hat, her hat) (more about possessive nouns)
3. numbers (five hats, eight hats, twenty hats)
4. indefinite pronouns (each hat ,some hats, both hats) (more about indefinite pronouns)
5. demonstrative pronouns (that hat, those hats) (more about demonstrative pronouns)
Native speakers of English learn when to use articles with nouns as they learn to speak.
However, learning when to use articles is often difficult for non-native speakers.
The difference between article use with town and city illustrates the difficulty: