Determiner Order

As you know, pre-determiners, determiners, and post-determiners can be used together to modify a noun. In this lesson, we will learn about their order.

What is Determiner Order?

There are pre-determiners, determiners, and post-determiners in a noun phrase which can or cannot be used at the same time. Thus, it is important to know the order in which different determiners can appear.

Take a look at the types of determiners on the list:

pre-determiners

multipliers
fractions
intensifiers
some distributives

central determiners

post-determiners

numerals
sequencers
quantifiers
some distributives

How Do We Use Determiners?

As you may know, there are various types of pre-determiners, determiners, and post-determiners that are used in specific orders to form noun phrases with a head noun. Let us take a look at the determiners that can be used with each other at the same time:

Pre-determiners and Central Determiners

Some pre-determiners cannot be used with certain central determiners. Check out the table below to find out which predeterminers can be used with a specific central determiner.

	Article	Demonstrative	Possesitve	Interrogative
Multiplier	✓	✓	✓	✗
Fraction	✓	✓	✓	✗
Intensifier	✓	✗	✗	✗
Distributive	✓	✓	✓	✗

Multipliers and Central Determiners

Multipliers can be used before every central determiner except interrogative determiners. Here are a few examples:

We exercise twice a week.

These shoes are twice my size.

He ate twice this amount last year.

~~Twice~~ what color is your favorite?

Fractions and Central Determiners

Fractions can be used with every central determiner except interrogative determiners. Here are some examples:

It took half a minute.

She wears half my size.

Half those animals are going to be extinct.

~~Half~~ whose shoes are those?

Intensifiers with Central Determiners

Intensifiers are used with articles but not with any other central determiners. Here are a few examples:

He is quite a man.

He is ~~such~~ my friend.

I can't solve ~~such~~ this problem.

~~Quite~~ whose books are those?

Distributives and Central Determiners

Distributives are used with every type of central determiner except interrogative determiners. Here are some examples:

All the animals were kept in cages.

Both my friends are at the party.

All these people are supposed to get injected.

~~All~~ what class did go to the picnic?

using pre-determiners to modify a noun

Post-determiners and Central Determiners

Certain post-determiners can be used on their own, without a preceding determiner, while others require a central determiner to be present. It is important to know which post-determiners can be used with central determiners in a noun phrase. The table below shows which post-determiners can be used with central determiners:

	Article	Demonstrative	Possessive	Interrogative
Numerals	✓	✓	✓	✗
Quantifiers	✓	✓	✗	✗
Distributives	✗	✗	✗	✗

Numerals and Central Determiners

Numeral post-determiners can be used with all central determiners except interrogatives. Check out the examples:

The next session is on Wednesday.

Those few last moments made eternal flames.

Your previous therapy didn't end well.

What ~~next~~ school do you go to?

Quantifiers with Central Determiners

Quantifiers cannot be used with interrogative and possessive determiners. Check out the examples for more clarification:

We have a few plans.

I talked to my ~~few~~ friends.

What ~~many~~ issues are there in your mind?

Those few moments together were precious.

Distributives with Central Determiners

Distributive determiners are only used alone as a post-determiner. This means they cannot be used with central determiners at the same time. Check these examples out:

Each boy has his own characteristics in this class.

Either room is suitable to become the guest room.

Can We Use Post-determiners and Pre-determiners Together?

There are only a few structures in which post-determiners and pre-determiners can be used together at the same time. Here are the structures:

distributive (pre-determiner) + article + numeral (post-determiner) + head noun

Here is an example of this structure:

I will have fun all the next summer.

multiplier (pre-determiner) + possessive + numeral (post-determiner) + head noun

Check the example out to get to know this structure:

Five-eighth of my previous class got graduated.

distributive (pre-determiner) + demonstrative + numeral (post-determiner) + head noun

In this example, the above structure is used:

All those five nights I was playing the piano.

distributive (pre-determiner) + possessive + numeral (post-determiner) + head noun

Check out the example for more clarification:

Both my previous classes were tiring.

Determiners of the Same Category

Two central determiners or two pre-determiners cannot be used with each other at the same time, but there are two specific post-determiners that can be used with each other. Here is the structure and the example:

numeral (sequencer) + quantifier + head noun

I will give birth to my baby in the next few months.

Partitives as Pre-determiners

Both definite and indefinite partitives can be used as pre-determiners in a noun phrase. However, it's important to note that the first part of the partitive, which contains a number or an article (such as 'a', 'one', 'two', 'one hundred', and so on), is actually part of the partitive structure and is included in the formation of the pre-determiner. Therefore, the entire partitive construction is used as a pre-determiner. Here are the examples:

Many of their problems are because of the baby.

'Their' is a central determiner that is used after the partitive pre-determiner.

Three pieces of the pizza are left in the box.

Review

Pre-determiners cannot be used with every central determiner pr post-determiner at the same time. So there is a particular order for each determiner to be used in combination with another.

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