Determiners: position and order

Where do determiners go?

Determiners come first in noun phrases, before adjectives and noun modifiers.

determiner(s)	adjective(s)	noun modifier(s)	head noun
her	little		brother
every		university	student
three	big, old	kitchen	tables
my two	best		friends

See also

• Noun phrases

More than one determiner

We can use more than one determiner in a noun phrase:

• My two best friends at school were Mike and Terry.
• All your books got wet when you left them in the garden – do you remember?

We don’t use two referring determiners or two quantifying determiners together:

• We sold the house.

• We sold our house.

• Not: We sold the our house.

• I have some questions.

• I have many questions.

• Not: I have some many questions.

However, we can use a quantifying determiner (some, many, enough, etc.) + of together with a referring determiner (the, this, my, etc):

• Many of the people present were very angry.
• Some of his friends are awful people.

When there is more than one determiner in a noun phrase, we put them in a fixed order. The table shows the order from left to right.

quantifier(e.g. all, both, some)	article (a/an, the)	demonstrative (this, that, these, those)	possessive(e.g. my, her, our, Anna’s)	number(e.g. one, three, 26)	head noun
all (of)	the				children
both (of)			my		parents
			his	two	sisters
many of		these			animals
	the			three	girls
half	a				mile
none of		those		six	glasses
some of			our		friends

Many, much, more, most, few, little

We can use many, much, more, most, few and little after the or after a demonstrative or a possessive, especially in formal styles:

• She spent the little money she had left on a new coat and hat.
• Those few books which were not destroyed in the fire have been transferred to the new library.
• I shall invite my many friends to join me on my 65th birthday.

All, both, half

All, both and half can come before articles, demonstratives and possessives. We can use them with or without of, with no difference in meaning:

• All that food should be put in the fridge. (or All of that food)
• Do both your parents work in the city? (or both of your parents)
• Half the people at the party hadn’t been invited. (or Half of the people)

See also

• All
• Both

One of, most of, etc

Determiners other than all, both and half must be used with of if they come before articles, demonstratives or possessives:

• Do you want any of these boxes, or shall I throw them away?
• Not: Do you want any these boxes…
• Most of her school friends got married before she did.
• I’d like some of the green grapes, please.
• Two of my favourite programmes are on TV at the same time!

Determiners which we use with of in this way are:

(a) few	enough	most
(a) little	every (every one of)	much
all	fewer	neither
another	fewest	no (pronoun form none)
any	least	one, two, three, etc.
both	less	several
each	many	some
either	more	which

In formal styles, we use each of, every one of, none of and any of with a singular verb when they are the subject:

• Each of the children was given a place to hang their coat and bag.
• None of my friends owns a house.

However, in informal speaking, people often use plural verbs:

• None of the computers are working. They’re all being repaired at the moment.

Determiners with and without of may have slightly different meanings.

Compare

without of	with of
Some people had gathered in the main square. (a fairly small number of people)	Some of the people in the hall sounded very angry. (a proportion of the particular group of people)
The school needs more teachers. (a greater number of teachers)	I wish we had more of this paper. I like the colour. (a greater quantity of this particular paper)
Few cities have solved the problems associated with traffic congestion. (not many cities)	Very few of the children seemed to know basic maths. (not many of the particular group of children)

Determiners and modifiers

Determiners which show quantity (underlined) may occasionally have words before them (modifiers, in bold) which make them more specific or stronger:

• Nearly every shop was closed for the public holiday.
• The college has received many more applications this year than last year, but the total is still far fewer than ten years ago.
• They were able to give me very little information.