Determiners & Adjectives
Some modern grammars include determiners among the parts of speech.
But many traditional grammars consider them adjectives – Both perform a modifying function.
Let’s see how Determiners differ from Adjectives.
Difference 1
The form of an adjective can change.
Example: tall, taller, tallest
Most determiners do not change form.
Examples: some, each, his, her, etc.
Difference 2
Adjectives are not limited in number. Language will never tire of inventing new adjectives.
Most determiners on the other hand, are well established. This class of words is not going to grow in number.
In the same way:
- There are only three articles (a, an, the),
- There are only a handful of possessive pronouns, etc.
Exception: the possessive cases of nouns are as limitless as nouns themselves.
Difference 3
An adjective is placed before the noun or as a complement of a noun.
Example: ‘tall boy’. The boy is tall.
A determiner can come only before a noun.
Examples: ‘few girls’, ‘every student’
Difference 4
A determiner precedes other adjectives that accompany it. Though determiners can have different positions relative to one another.
Examples:
many nice paintings (many - determiner; nice - adjective)
some great men (some - determiner; great - adjective)
Extra Books and Tools
If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.