语法名词和名词短语

Chapter 4 noun and noun phrase (2) Determiner and genitive

1. General information about determiners 1) Definition:

a) Determiners refer to the words which are used in the pre-modification of a noun phrase and which typically precede any adjectives that pre-modify the head word.

b) Determiners are a set of closed-class items that are used to determine nouns or noun phrases. 2) Function:

a) They may define the relationship of the noun or noun phrase to the speaker or listener e.g.

my students

their books

b) Identify the noun or noun phrase as specific or general e.g.

these boys (specific)

all the books (general)

c) Quantify the noun or noun phrase or quantify in general e.g.

these three boys (specific)

many boys (general)

3) Determiners and adjectives

Determiners and adjectives are different in a number of significant ways a) Determiners usually precede adjectives in pre-modification e.g.

a nice man

* nice a man

b) The choice of determiners is often determined by the noun as the head word, but not that of adjectives限定词受名词中心词的限制，但形容词虽然有时也受词汇意义的限制，但没有语法意义上的限制。 e.g.

many girls / much money

* little / much good people

c) Adjectives describe the head words by showing its characteristics, but determiners determine the head words by identifying or quantifying. e.g.

many good books

my old friends

d) Adjectives can post-modify the head word, but not the determiners e.g.

people old and young

* people few or many

e) Adjectives have comparative forms, inflectional 词尾变化(bigger, clever)or periphrastic迂回变化(more intelligent, more beautiful), but not the determiners (except few, little, many and much) 4) Classification of determiners

Determiners may co-occur in the pre-modification of a noun or noun phrase, that is, two or more

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determiners may modify one or the same head word. e.g.

all the students

all the three other students

so we identify 3 subclasses of determiners on the basis of their relative position in the case of co-occurrence: pre-determiners, central determiners and post-determiners Pre-determiners Central determiners Article: a /an /the/zero Post-determiners Cardinal numerals: one, Indefinite determiners: All, Demonstrative: this, that, these… two, three… both, half Possessive: my, your … Ordinal numerals: first, second, third… Multiple: double, twice, Genitive: the boy?s three times, etc. Fraction: two-thirds, etc. Indefinite determiners: any, each, General numerals: next, one-third, either, every, neither, no, some … last, past … Interrogative: what quantifiers: few, fewer, Exclamatory: What (a/an), Interrogative or relative: which, fewest, little, less, lest, such (a/an) Many (a /an) whose … Wh-determiners in many, much, more, most, –ever: several … Such Lots of, a great deal of … The position of the 3 kinds of determiners are fixed when they co-occur: Pre-determiners + central determiners + post-determiners e.g.

all the students

pre-determiner + central determiner pre-determiner + post-determiner central determiner + post-determiner

pre-determiner + central determiner + post-determiner

whichever, whatever… all other students the other students

all the three other determiners

Note: 1) pre-determiners or central determiners are mutually exclusive; that is, in one ore the same noun phrase, there could only one pre-determiner or one central determiner. e.g.

* all half the students

* all the his students

2) And as a matter of fact several determiners, like such, both are pre-determiners and post-determiners.

e.g. such a / an some such, no such, few such, one such. Additional information:

Collocation of determiners with nouns

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1) collocation of some determiners with singular, plural and mass nouns

The ,some , any, no, other, whose, possessive determiners like my, and genitive noun, like John?s Book and money

2)collocation of some determiners with only singular nouns a/an, one, another, each, every, either, neither, many a, such a 3) collocation of some determiners with only plural nouns

Both, two, three, another two/three, many, (a)few, several, these, those, a(great) number of 4) collocation of determiners with only mass nouns

A (little) bit of, a great amount of, a great deal of, a little, much 5) collocation of determiners with both singular and plural nouns The first, the second, the last , the next

6) collocation of determiners with singular and mass nouns This, that, (the) least

E.g. the least knowledge the least sign of prejudice This job this work

7)collocation of determiners with plural and mass nouns A lot of, lots of, plenty of, enough, more , most, such, other e.g. such men such bread 2. Usage of some determiners 1) “all” and “whole”

all and whole are near synonyms. e.g.

they stayed here all day. = they stayed here the whole day.

Differences:

a) All can modify all kinds of nouns: singular countable nouns, plural countable nouns, mass nouns and even proper nouns. e.g.

I didn?t see all the film.

They lost all hope of finding the survivors. * the whole money

b) When modifying a plural noun, all suggests the inclusion of all the members, which is equivalent to every, while whole points to the completeness or entirety of each individual group included. e.g.

She would work twelve hours a day all the years when she was at Cambridge.

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Whole regiments surrendered to the enemy.

c) When all is used to modify a noun that represents a place, it usually refers to all the people living in that place. But whole may refer to all its residents or refer to the place itself as a whole depending on the context. e.g.

all the village was excited at the news. (the whole of village / all the people in the village) the whole village was flooded. * All the village…

2) “all” and “both”

both, as a determiner, invariably modifies countable nouns, and refers to a group that consists of 2 members. But when the number is greater than two, all is used. 3) all, every and each

all suggests the whole group; every points to all the individual members of the group, and each focuses on each individual member of the group taken separately. e.g.

all the boys enjoyed themselves at the party.

Every boy enjoyed himself at the party. 意义相当于all the boys强调个体中的整体 Each boy got one present at the part.

（每个男孩都拿到一个礼物，不是所有的男孩拿到同一个礼物） 强调整体中的个体 d) both, each and neither

both, each and neither all bear the meaning of “two” or “one and the other”, and sometimes they can be used interchangeably in appropriate context. e.g.

there are shops on both sides / each side / either side of the street.

But when we wish to indicate each one of the two, each and either are to be used. e.g.

she sat watching TV with a child on each / either side of her. There is a chair at each / either end of the long table.

e) any, neither, no, none, and neither

any, no, and none refer to a group of more than two, but either and neither refer to a group of two. d) Others

another, other, others, the other:

another相对于三个以上群体中的“另一个” one …. the other…两者之中，一个…另一个…

other不能单用，用么前面加定冠词the，要么后面加名词 others = the rest表示其余的人或者事物

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e.g. other students

e.g. most:

he felt that all men should accept the responsibility of helping others.

注意区分most…和most of the…。前者是泛指，而后者是特指(most people, most of the people) 此外，most of people是错误的，most of后面的名词必须用定冠词表示特指概念。 e) phrases

counts for much /little /nothing anything but all but

很有/少有/没有价值 单单除了…之外，根本不 几乎，除了…都 如果有的话 不是别的，正是

if anything

none other than 3. Articles

We identify two articles in the English language: the definite article --- the, and the indefinite article --- a /an. Notes:

a) Anaphoric reference前照应，前指代:the uniqueness of reference of some phrase is supplied by information given earlier in the discourse. e.g.

I saw a cat in our garden and the cat was climbing up a tree. b) Cataphoric reference后照应，后指代:the use of the definite article in a context where what follows the head noun, rather than what precedes it enable us to pinpoint查明 the reference uniquely e.g.

The trees in the backyard were planted by our great grandfather. c) Sporadic reference不规则照应，偶然照应: the reference is made to an institution of human society which may be observed recurrently反复的，经常的 at various places and times e.g.

Mary goes to the theater every week. The theater可能是特指某个剧院或者影院，那这里的the表示specific reference，但也可能只是表示某个社团组织，是泛指（那就这个句子就可以提问一个问题，which theater?）而非特指。 有这种用法的还有：the television, the news, the radio, the press, the internet, the bus, the car, the train … 4. Genitives

One way of specifying something is by saying who or what it belongs to, e.g., Jonh?s car, a form that used to be termed a “possessive” as it denotes possession. The idea of possession can also

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be expressed by an of-phrase, e.g., the cover of the book, which is often interchangeable with the genitive. There is another type of genitive, which is, as far as the form is concerned, a combination of the above two types of genitives, e.g., a friend of my brother?s, a construction termed “double genitive” or “post genitive”. 1) Genitive

(textbook P. 94)

genitive construction is favored with the noun classes as follows: a) Personal names b) Personal nouns

Mary?s dolls the girl?s notebook

the cat?s paws

c) Animal nouns, in particular, those denoting “higher animals” d) Collective nouns

The genitive is also used with collective nouns which emphasize the aspect of “organized individuals”, in particular, those denoting authoritative and other organizational bodies. e) Geographical names (continents, countries, states, cities, universities) e.g.

Asia?s economy, China?s population, Shandong?s development, Yantai?s electricity,

Harvard?s education

f) Locative nouns denoting regions, institutions, heavenly bodies, etc.

They can be very similar to geographical names, and are often written with initial capital letter. e.g.

The city?s environment, the Church?s choir, the earth?s surface

an hour?s ride, a day?s walk

g) Temporal nouns

h) Other nouns of special relevance to human activity e.g.

the mind?s power, the brain?s mechanism, the play?s structure

(Information in another book)

a) The genitive is commonly preferred with nouns referring to people

Mary?s books

b) The genitive is exclusively used if the relation between the nouns is one of definition, classification, etc., rather than possession

the men?s clothes, the doctor?s degree

tomorrow?s speech

c) The genitive is also used with nouns denoting time

d) There are a number of idiomatic combinations where the genitive is invariably used. e.g.

at arm?s length保持距离, in one?s mind?s eye想象，记忆, at one?s wit?s end智穷计尽, a

stone?s throw近在咫尺，一箭之地, at swords? points准备战斗, a hair?s breadth丝毫，稍稍, a bird?s-eye view鸟瞰 2) Of-phrase

(textbook P.96)

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a) The of-phrase is typically preferred with nouns referring to inanimate, lifeless objects e.g.

the color of the car, the importance of the plan

b) The of-phrase is required with a noun phrase whose head word is a classifying adjective e.g.

the experience of the old, the welfare of the poor

3) Genitive and of-phrase

a) Both the genitive and of-phrase can be used with geographical proper nouns and nouns referring to places, institutions, etc. e.g.

China?s foreign policy

the foreign policy of China

b) Collective nouns can also take both forms e.g.

the government?s attitude

the attitude of the government

d) The choice may be a matter of personal taste or attitude, or it may be accounted for in terms of environmental constraints such as modification and balance. e.g.

the students? opinions of their professor

the opinions of the students present at the meeting the poor peasants? childhood and their early life

e) however, when denoting the genre or the characteristics of a thing, we prefer genitive rather than of –phrase

e.g. children?s pictorial * pictorial of children men?s clothing * clothing of men 4) Group genitive词组格属

the group genitive is a term that refers to the genitive formed by adding –?s to the last element of a post-modified or coordinated noun phrase e.g.

an hour and a half?s test

someone else?s car

a week or so?s break

a) The group genitive normally does not work with a noun phrase that contains a post-modifying clause, finite, or non-finite. It would be more acceptable to use the of-phrase instead. e.g.

the car of the man I know

* the man I know?s car

the comments of the professor to consult * the professor to consult?s comments

b) The genitive should be replaced by the of-phrase if the noun phrase contains a long prepositional phrase that may cause ambiguity e.g.

the food of the man with the dog

* the man with the dog?s food

* the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island?s heir

5) Local genitive表地点的名词的属格

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Nouns used in the local genitive are invariably nouns referring to persons and denoting residence, public buildings, places where business is conducted, etc. a) Proper nouns for certain well-known buildings e.g.

St. Paul?s (Cathedral)

Guy?s (Hospital)

St. James?s (Palace)

b) Words for shops denoted by the type of shopkeeper e.g

the baker?s 面包店

the butcher?s肉店

the chemist?s药房

the barber?s理发店 the hairdresser?s理发店，美容店

c) Names and nouns referring to persons which denote residence e.g.

We are having dinner at my uncle?s tonight. (my uncle?s house) See you at Harry?s tomorrow.

6) Double genitive双重所有格

The double genitive, also referred to as the “post genitive”, is so called because it is a combination of the genitive and the of-phrase e.g.

a friend of my brother?s

some neighbors of my grandparents?

a) genitive the second noun in the double construction almost always refers to persons, never to objects e.g.

* a window of the house?s

* a page of the book?s

b) The first noun usually has indefinite reference (typically pre-modified by the indefinite article) and the second noun is always definte e.g.

a friend of my doctor?s

* the friend of the doctor?s

* a friend of a doctor?s

Exceptions to the rule are the cases where the first noun is pre-modified by a demonstrative or post-modified by a relative clause e.g.

that friend of my brother?s

the friend of Bob?s who was here last night

c) the demonstrative determiners can be used to show the speaker?s attitude e.g.

* a wife of John?s

that wife of John?s

under the following occasion, of-genitive and double genitive show quite different meanings. 1) a portrait of Mr Brown?s 由布朗先生画的或者收藏的肖像 2) a portrait of Mr Brown 一张布朗先生的肖像 3) a criticism of Mr Hamilton?s 一次批评 4) a criticism of Mr Hamilton 对…的一次批评

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part one

1. why is there ___ traffic on the streets in February than in May? A. less B. fewer C. few D. little

2.on account of the typhoon ___ shipment will arrive this week. .A. neither B. all C both .D. these 3. there is ___ water in the bottle

A. few B. a number of C. plenty of D. any 4. the model worker had ____ thought of his own interests. A. the last B. less C. the least D. another 5. the additional work will take ___ weeks

A. the other B. another five C. other five D. the more 6. he did it in ___ time it took me

A. the one-third B. half a C. the double D. one-third the 7. ____ friends usually speak highly of him.

A. His some B his many C. many his D. some his 8. ____factors should be considered

A.these alll B. such alll C. all such D. some these 9. he has been staying at home ___ days.

A. these all last few B. these last few all C. all these last few D. these last all few 10._____recommendation has so far been made by the technicians A. several such B. no such a C. such no D. no such

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