In my previous post I explained the difference between adjectives and determiners. Determiners can be sub- divided into three sub- classes : pre-determiners, regular determiners and post- determiners .
Pre- Determiners come before regular determiners in a Noun Phrase . I this post I will discuss some commonly used pre-determiners and their proper use in sentences .
ALL. BOTH AND HALF
These pre-determiners are followed by the + noun or demonstrative + noun (these+ noun)
All the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half the apples are rotten.
Of-construction is optional
All of the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half of the apples are rotten .
Please note that if pronouns are used of-construction is required
All of them resigned from the cabinet n.
Both of them are clever.
Half of them are rotten.
There are some intensifiers which are used as pre-determiners , especially in conversational English . These intensifiers are : such, quite rather and what . These pre-determiners indicate the attitude of the speaker. They are followed by a/an and a noun or an adjective .
He is such a darling! (admiration)
It was quite a calm place .(I liked it )
It is rather a small house (I don't like it ) )
What a pretty girl!(wonder)
Multipliers like twice , thrice etc are pre-determiners They are followed by the +noun
She gets thrice the salary of her husband
.
Possessives can be used in the place of the
He gets twice my salary.
Words indicating fractions like one-third, two- fourths etc are pre-determiners
He spends one third salary on travel.
Of- construction is optional
He spends one -third of his salary on travel.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Determiners and Adjectives --Difference Explained
Adjectives are words that describe the intrinsic or inherent qualities of persons and things. Determiners , on the contrary , show attributes which are not inherent in persons or things , but are extraneous to them.
Good, bad, pretty, young , old etc are qualities that are inherent in persons and things , and so they are adjectives
Words denoting possession ( my, your , his ,her their etc ) , proximity ( this , that , these , those ) , distribution ( each, every , either, neither, both, all etc ) , quantity ( how much of something or how little of something like many, few, some , several ,little and the counting numbers one, two , three etc ) , reference (both anaphoric and cataphoric like the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an ) , order ( like the ordinal numbers , first, second, third etc ) ---these show attributes which are extraneous to the objects the nouns signify .
These words form a category by themselves ; and they are called determiners because they determine the way a noun is used in the context .
Determiners can be sub- divided into pre-determiners, regular determiners and post -determiners . I will discuss them in detail in my next post .
Thank you for visiting !
Good, bad, pretty, young , old etc are qualities that are inherent in persons and things , and so they are adjectives
Words denoting possession ( my, your , his ,her their etc ) , proximity ( this , that , these , those ) , distribution ( each, every , either, neither, both, all etc ) , quantity ( how much of something or how little of something like many, few, some , several ,little and the counting numbers one, two , three etc ) , reference (both anaphoric and cataphoric like the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an ) , order ( like the ordinal numbers , first, second, third etc ) ---these show attributes which are extraneous to the objects the nouns signify .
These words form a category by themselves ; and they are called determiners because they determine the way a noun is used in the context .
Determiners can be sub- divided into pre-determiners, regular determiners and post -determiners . I will discuss them in detail in my next post .
Thank you for visiting !
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Emphatic Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns
Emphatic Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns look alike in form , but they are different in usage .
Both of them are formed by adding -self or -selves to the possessive or object-form of pronouns .
I ----------------Myself
You--------------Yourself
He----------------Himself
She---------------Herself
It-----------------Itseff
We----------------ourselves
You----------------Yourselves (plural)
They---------------Themselves
Emphatic Pronouns are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence . They are often placed at the end of sentences .
*I did it myself . ( that is , no other person did it )
*She cooked the meals herself .
* He cleaned the room himself .
* I drove the car all the way myself .
Emphatic Pronouns sometimes come immediately after the subject
I myself did it .
She herself cleaned the whole house .
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are used when the doer is affected by his or her own action
* She hurt herself while cutting vegetables,
* He blamed himself for what had happened .
* Othello stabbed himself to death
*She pricked herself with a needle .
Please note that there are some verbs which are used with reflexive pronouns and then these verbs have different meanings !
* She enjoyed herself during her stay in Cochin .( that is , she had a nice time )
*You should behave \yourself in public. . ( that is , you should behave decently .)*
Enough for today !
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Both of them are formed by adding -self or -selves to the possessive or object-form of pronouns .
I ----------------Myself
You--------------Yourself
He----------------Himself
She---------------Herself
It-----------------Itseff
We----------------ourselves
You----------------Yourselves (plural)
They---------------Themselves
Emphatic Pronouns are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence . They are often placed at the end of sentences .
*I did it myself . ( that is , no other person did it )
*She cooked the meals herself .
* He cleaned the room himself .
* I drove the car all the way myself .
Emphatic Pronouns sometimes come immediately after the subject
I myself did it .
She herself cleaned the whole house .
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are used when the doer is affected by his or her own action
* She hurt herself while cutting vegetables,
* He blamed himself for what had happened .
* Othello stabbed himself to death
*She pricked herself with a needle .
Please note that there are some verbs which are used with reflexive pronouns and then these verbs have different meanings !
* She enjoyed herself during her stay in Cochin .( that is , she had a nice time )
*You should behave \yourself in public. . ( that is , you should behave decently .)*
Enough for today !
Thank you for visiting!