Chapter 1 - Grammatical Foundations: Words(157) a there arrived some letters
b there appeared many djinn
c *there sat all footballers
Not all quantificational elements are determiners, however. Some quantifiers might
at first appear to be determiners, but the observation that they are not in
complementary distribution with determiners challenges this assumption:
(158) a many problems (the many problems)
b few ideas (these few ideas)
c several inaccuracies (the several inaccuracies)
Traditionally this group of quantifiers are known as post-determiners as they always
follow other determiners (which are sometimes called central determiners). This
terminology gives the impression that post-determiners are a subclass of determiner,
which is likely to be inaccurate. These elements often have many adjectival qualities,
including being able to be modified by degree adverbs and having comparative and
superlative forms:
(159) a very many buildings more buildings most buildings
b so few typos fewer typos fewest typos
c ?very less money ?the lesser money the least money
For these reasons we will consider these elements as adjectival and will put off their
discussion until a later section.
Pronouns might also be argued to be determiners. Certain determiners can be used
straightforwardly as pronouns:
(160) a I like this hat I like this
b I’d like some cake I’d like some
Moreover, some pronouns can be used as determiners:
(161) a we three kings
b you fool
c them dandelions (dialectal)
Also, pronouns and determiners are in total complementary distribution:
(162) a the man
b him
c *the him
While certain nouns tend not to appear with determiners either, suggesting that
pronouns might be analysed as one of these kinds of noun, the fact is that all nouns can
appear with determiners under the right circumstances:
(163) a he’s not the Peter she married
b I met a Peter the other day
However, there are no circumstances that a pronoun can appear with a determiner: