What is the difference between an adjective and a determiner?
The concept of determiners is unknown to many people mostly because of its similarities with adjectives. Here we are going to discuss the differences between adjectives and determiners and what makes them an important part of many languages.
Similarity
Before we discuss the differences between adjectives and determiners it would be better to take a look at their similarities.
Both adjectives and determiners can describe a noun. In English language they both come before a noun to give you more information about that noun. Because of this fundamental similarity, words like possessive determiners used to be called possessive adjectives (many still call them by this term).
Differences
There are 3 main differences between an adjective and a determiner:
Quantity
You can use as many adjectives as you want to describe a noun but there can only be one determiner describing each noun or noun phrase. Using more that one determiner for a noun would be wrong:
· I want the some apple.
Some and the are both determiners and using them for one noun would be wrong. (In the phrase “some of” some is not a determiner)
Position
If there are both a determiner and a few adjectives describing a noun, the determiner will always come before the adjectives. Let’s see an example:
· He was happy a boy.
In this example the adjective came before the determiner which is wrong. The right form would be “He is a happy boy”.
Use
The adjectives and determiners are both used to describe a noun and add more information about it, but what they contribute can differ. You can only show whether a noun is definite or indefinite by the use of determiners. And using determiner for singular common nouns is in most cases obligatory.
It is also important to mention that both determiners and adjectives rarely describe a pronoun.
Types of determiners
There are different types of determiners, some of which you may take for pronouns and some for adjectives:
Articles
Articles are the most easily recognizable determiners. There two main articles in English language “a” also known as indefinite article and “the” also know and definite article (“some” is also considered by many as an article)
Most people know them as possessive adjectives, but in fact they are determiners. English possessive determiners include: my, your, his, her, its, our and their.
Demonstrative determiners are just like demonstrative pronouns; the only difference if they come before a noun. English demonstrative determiners include: this, that, these, those.
Not all interrogative pronouns can be determiners but some of them like “what” can come before a noun used as a determiner to ask a question. English interrogative determiners include: what, which and whose.
How can recognizing determiners help?
Determiners are categorized as a closed class in English linguistics. This means there are a limited number of determiners in English language but they are used very commonly. Knowing them and how to use them correctly can help you excel in the language learning process.
They are also a very strong signal for recognizing nouns. They make finding and understanding a noun far easier.
