What types of determinants are there
According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE), a determinant is a "kind of word whose elements determine the noun or the nominal group and are generally placed in position prenominal ". As an example, the dictionary points to the definite article and the demonstratives as examples of some of the types of determiners that exist in Spanish. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will see what types of determinants are there, accompanied by a summary to study them in the easiest way possible. Keep reading!
Determinants are words that accompany the noun to indicate in a more specific and concrete way, delimiting its extension or origin. For this reason, determiners always agree in gender and number with the noun they precede and determine. P
For example, children, masculine plural, houses, plural feminine, my book, masculine singular or that pillow, feminine singular. Furthermore, the determinants are characterized by their pre-nuclear position; that is, always preceding the syntactic core of the noun phrase, which is a noun or noun.
On the other hand, the determinants are divided into several categories, Which are the following:
- The articles
- The possessive
- The demonstrative
- The numerals
- The undefined
- The interrogatives and exclamations
Next we are going to analyze them in detail so that you can know what types of determinants are there.
Next, we propose a brief summary of how to study determinants in Spanish. First, we are going to divide the determinants according to the different categories. Afterwards, we will briefly explain each group and, finally, we will see which are the determinants that belong to each of the groups:
1. ARTICLES: Articles are those determiners that indicate whether the noun refers to a known or unknown being. Items can be:
- A) determined (the)
- or B) indeterminate (one, one, one, one).
2. DEMONSTRATIVES: demonstrative determinants indicate the closeness or distance of what is stated by the noun with with respect to the spatio-temporal position of the speaker and of the interlocutors and other participants of the speech. The demonstratives are the following:
- A) Those that indicate more closeness (this this these these)
- B) Those who indicate middle distance (that, that, those, those)
- C) Those who show remoteness (That one those ones)
3. POSSESSIVES: Possessive determiners are those that accompany the noun indicate possession or belonging to it with respect to the person who speaks. Possessives can refer to a single possessor (my, my, you, your, hers, her) or several holders (ours, ours, our, ours, yours, yours, yours, yours, hers, his).
4. NUMERALS: the numeral determiners are those that accompany the noun and indicate the number or order with respect to other nouns of the same category. The numerals can be:
- A) cardinal (two, four, five, eight, seventeen, sixty ... etc)
- or B) ordinals (second, fifth, sixth, eighth, tenth).
5. UNDEFINED: undefined determinants are those that indicate an approximate or inaccurate amount of what is expressed by the noun. The undefined are the following: some, some, some, some, a little, a little, a few, a few, a lot, a lot, many, many ...
6. INTERROGATIVE AND EXCLAMATIVE: the interrogative and exclamatory determiners those that are used in the interrogative sentences to ask questions and in the exclamatory sentences to express surprise at something. The interrogatives and exclamations are: what, how much, how much, how many, how many, which, which, who or Who is it.
