DETERMINERS

  • Determiners can express many meanings, such as number, quantity, distance, ownership, whether something is indefinite etc.
  • Determiners premodify noun phrases.
  • Determiners are a part of noun phrases and always come at the start of the noun phrase.
  • Some singular nouns must have a determiner.  A dog barks.”
  • More than one determiner can come before a noun.  It is rare to see 3 determiners together: “All my many houses…“, “...once every other month
  • Determiners can be premodified by intensifiers: “Less than ten people…
  • Most determiners also function as pronouns.  For example This food is good. ” “This is good.”

THIS + time word

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 42 in the category of DETERMINERS/demonstratives is defined as: ‘this’ with time and date words to refer to the past. Speaking test example: When did you go to London? I went this year. TLC, Male, Italy, B1 A search in iWeb for: _VVD this_D _NNT1 1 SAID THIS WEEK 5943 2 ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK 3344 […]

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several | a few of

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 39 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined as: wide range of quantifying determiners with plural nouns (‘several’, ‘millions of’, ‘a few of’). *Note that if ‘millions of’ is used as hyperbole, then it is a C1 point. TLC, Speaking test examples: There are very few sports cars in Sri Lanka. We don’t

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Not + everyone | everything | every | all

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 26 in the category of NEGATION is defined as: ‘not’ with indefinite pronouns ‘everyone’ and ‘everything’ and determiners ‘every’, ‘all’ For example: Not everyone is always looking for easier. (more context) Besides, not everyone needs a decent education. (more context) PELIC student example: level 3 Portuguese female: Finally, not all things you think to do in this world can turn out in the way you try to do them.

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neither | either + of + PLURAL NOUN PHRASE

‘Either’ can mean “the one or the other.” ‘Neither’ can mean “not the one and not the other” or “not either.” C1 English Grammar Profile point 63 in DETERMINERS/quantity is defined as: ‘either’ and ‘neither’ + ‘of’ with plural noun phrases or pronouns. For example: Neither of these men is Chaney. (note the subject-verb agreement!) listen I don’t think

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one’s + NOUN

The English Grammar Profile C1 Point 62 in DETERMINERS/possessives is defined as: ONE’S to indicate possession, referring to people in general. This corresponds to the GSE 71 B2+ one’s as an impersonal possessive adjective. An iWeb search: one _GE _N 1 ONE ‘S LIFE 8388 It’s hard to imagine the rest of one’s life alone. listen 2 ONE ‘S SELF 5224 3 ONE

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whatever | wherever | whenever | however

In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘Whatever’ is listed as a pronoun at B1 meaning ‘anything’ or ‘everything’, one example they give is: Whatever I say I always seem to get it wrong. This EVP example could be rewritten as: I always seem to get whatever I say wrong.   As a pronoun or a determiner at B2 meaning ‘no difference’: Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer. It could be rewritten as I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer

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that | those (emotional distance)

C2 point 68 in DETERMINERS/demonstratives is defined as: ‘that’ and ‘those’ to convey emotional distance, often to express disapproval. The two examples in the EGP: that_DD1 sort_NN1 of_IO behaviour_NN1 those_DD2 so-called_JJ heroes_NN2 Emotional distance or disapproval is not possible to locate in corpora automatically.  We can start by copying the language patterns above. But really,

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singular noun ending in S + possessive ‘ (-s’)

From Google/Oxford, the suffix: s’ denotes possession in plural nouns and sometimes in singular nouns having a final s. For example:  “the girls’ dormitories” Girls is plural. Usually, the possessive singular noun takes ‘s regardless if it ends in s or not.  (Many English users get this wrong.) You are the boss‘s son. (A2 grammar) listen Boss is singular. 

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There’s this + noun phrase (immediacy in a narrative)

C2 point 64 in DETERMINERS/demonstratives is defined as: ‘this’ with nouns and noun phrases in a narrative to create a sense of immediacy. All the examples in the English Grammar Profile follow the pattern ‘There + BE + this + noun phrase’ A search on iWeb for: there_EX _VB this _N 1 THERE ‘S THIS

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THIS (pronoun)

This is one of the most important documents in history. listen Demonstrating Proximity: The word “this” is commonly used to indicate objects or ideas that are physically close to the speaker or writer. In sentence above, it refers to a specific document that is being discussed. Essentially, it points to something nearby or within immediate reach. Profiling Research Here are a few

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all | one | some + OF + these | those | this | that

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 52 in the category of PRONOUNS / demonstratives is defined as: quantifying determiners + ‘of’ with demonstrative pronouns An iWeb search for: _DD of _DD 1 SOME OF THESE 258542  STUDENT example: The hospitality in Saudi Arabia is very different between provinces.  Some of these have traditional hospitality, but others have modern hospitality. PELIC Arabic male level 3

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NOUN + ‘s (possession)

The English Grammar Profile claims there are over 1000 points in their database.  This post is another example of why it is not true.  One of the greatest problems with listing points is finding which category to list them in without merely duplicating the same points.  Both the following points are one point at the same CEFR level of A2.

Point 14 in the category of NOUNS/phrases is defined:

possessive determiner ‘s with a singular noun.

Point 14 in the category of DETERMINERS/possessives is defined as:

‘S after singular or proper nouns to indicate possession.

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