Determiners and Adjectives: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Oct 13, 2024 in Social sciences

Determiners

Determiners are a class of words with the following characteristics:

  1. They belong to a grammatical category and are grouped into articles, demonstratives, possessives, numerals, indefinites, distributives, identitives, interrogatives, and exclamatives.
  2. They precede the adjective in the noun phrase.
  3. They agree in gender and number with the nucleus of the phrase.

Types of Determiners

  • Articles: the
  • Demonstratives: this, these, that, those
  • Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
  • Numerals:
    • Cardinals: one, two, three…
    • Ordinals: first, second, third…
    • Partitives: eleventh, twelfth…
    • Multiples: double, triple…
  • Indefinites: a, an, some, any, no, other, more, much, less, few, all, several, both, each, every, either, neither
  • Distributives: each, every
  • Identitives: same, own
  • Interrogatives: what, which, whose, how much, how many
  • Exclamatives: what, how much, how many

Adjectives

An adjective is a part of speech that accompanies a noun and expresses some of its qualities.

Forms of Adjectives

Adjectives are characterized by carrying morphemes of gender, number, and degree.

1 Gender

The adjective itself has no inherent gender but takes the gender of the noun it modifies.

2 Number

The adjective agrees in number with the noun it modifies.

3 Degree

The degree of an adjective indicates the intensity or comparison of the quality it attributes to the noun.

There are three degrees:

  • Positive degree: The quality is not enhanced nor compared (e.g., tall).
  • Comparative degree: Compares qualities between two terms or beings. It can express equality (as tall as), superiority (taller than), or inferiority (less tall than).
  • Superlative degree: Expresses the quality at its maximum intensity. It can be absolute (tallest) or relative (the tallest in the group).

Some adjectives of Latin origin have specific lexical forms for comparative and superlative degrees (e.g., good, better, best).

The Meaning of Adjectives

Adjectives can have two values:

  • Specifying adjective: Limits and restricts the meaning of the noun (e.g., red car).
  • Explanatory adjective: Indicates a quality that is not necessary for identification (e.g., beautiful sunset).

Function of Adjectives

The adjective functions as the nucleus of the adjectival phrase. It can be modified by adverbs or prepositional phrases.

Adjectives can function as:

  • Noun complement: Modifies the noun directly within the noun phrase.
  • Attribute: Modifies the subject noun through a copula (e.g., The car is red).
  • Predicative complement: Modifies both the noun and the verb (e.g., The painter considered the artwork beautiful).