1.1.4 Determiners, in L'Huillier, Advanced French Grammar

presentation of L'Huillier's work, by Corry Shores

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Monique L'Huillier

Advanced French Grammar

1. Framework

1.1 Parts of Speech

1.1.4 Determiners

Determiners introduce nouns. The pairings agree in number and gender.

Determiners fall under seven classes:

1) articles

2) demonstrative adjectives

3) possessive adjectives

4) interrogative and exclamative adjectives

5) relative adjectives

6) numeral adjectives

7) indefinite adjectives

Some determiners cannot be combined with other determiners. Such would be called a 'specific determiner' or déterminant spécifique.

There are three specific determiners.

1) articles: le chat, un chat, du lait,

2) demonstrative adjectives: ce chat

3) possessive adjectives: mon chat

Other determiners can be combined with one another or with specific determiners, according to certain rules. They are called déterminants complémentaires. For example:

a) numeral adjectives: les trois chats

b) indefinite adjectives: tous mes chats

Some of the above terms we might consider "adjectives." But really they are "non-qualifying adjectives" rather than "qualifying" ones, which we discuss in part 1.5.

L'Huillier, Monique. Advanced French Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

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