{"slug":"determiner-a-taxonomy","title":"Determiner | A taxonomy","date":"2026-03-06T07:25:48.479Z","excerpt":"","tags":["taxonomy","language"],"order":41,"published":true,"content":"

In the study of English grammar, determiners are categorized according to three primary criteria: function (the role the determiner plays in anchoring the noun phrase to the discourse context), meaning (the semantic relationship the determiner establishes — definiteness, quantity, possession, deixis, and so on), and position (where within the noun phrase the determiner appears, and whether it can co-occur with other determiners). As a single determiner may operate across multiple categories simultaneously — this, for instance, can point to something physically present in the context of utterance (this sample), refer anaphorically to something just mentioned in the discourse (this finding), or signal evaluative proximity (this is exactly the problem) — these classifications are best understood as overlapping systems rather than mutually exclusive categories.

Determiners are the anchoring words of English. Where nouns name entities, verbs express actions and states, adjectives ascribe qualities, and prepositions express relationships, determiners perform a different and more fundamental function: they connect the noun phrase to its context of use. They answer, before any other question is asked, the most basic question a noun phrase must answer in discourse — which one? Is this entity known to the listener or new? Is it one specific thing or any member of a class? Is it being presented as belonging to someone, as pointing to something here or there, as exhausting a set or as partitioning it? None of these questions are answered by the noun itself. They are answered by the determiner.

This is why determiners constitute a class distinct from adjectives, despite the long tradition of grouping them together. An adjective like brilliant describes a property the noun's referent possesses. A determiner like the or every or my does not describe the referent at all — it situates it, quantifies it, possesses it, or points to it. The distinction is not subtle. A brilliant researcher and the brilliant researcher describe the same quality but refer to entirely different communicative acts: the first introduces someone new to the discourse; the second retrieves someone already established in it. The word doing that work is not the adjective brilliant but the determiner a or the, and no account of the noun phrase is complete without understanding what determiners do.

1. The Architecture of the Noun Phrase

Before classifying determiners individually, it is necessary to understand the position they occupy within the noun phrase, because determiner classification in English is partly a matter of position — not all determiners can appear in the same slot, and some can only appear in relation to others.

A. The Three Determiner Positions

Contemporary grammatical analysis recognizes that the determiner slot in the English noun phrase is not a single position but a layered structure with three distinct positions: predeterminer, central determiner, and postdeterminer. These positions are ordered, and the elements that occupy them must appear in sequence.

The Full Structure:

Predeterminer + Central Determiner + Postdeterminer + Adjective(s) + Head Noun

all [pre-det] + the [central det] + remaining [post-det] + significant [adj] + findings [noun]
both [pre-det] + her [central det] + previous [post-det] + published [adj] + papers [noun]
half [pre-det] + this [central det] + academic [adj] + year [noun]
such [pre-det] + a [central det] + remarkable [adj] + discovery [noun]
what [pre-det] + a [central det] + significant [adj] + contribution [noun]

Each position admits a distinct set of words and excludes the others. Central determiners are the most clearly defined position — only one central determiner can appear in any noun phrase, and the central determiner is obligatory in many noun phrases (all singular count nouns in English require a central determiner or a proper name). Predeterminers precede the central determiner and form a small, closed set. Postdeterminers follow the central determiner and precede any adjectives.

B. The Obligatoriness of Determiners

One of the most important features of English determiners — and one that distinguishes English from many other languages — is that singular count nouns are obligatorily determined. A noun phrase like researcher entered room is not grammatical English; it requires a researcher entered the room or the researcher entered a room or this researcher entered that room. The determiner is not optional decoration — it is a grammatical requirement, and its presence or absence carries meaning.

Mass nouns and plural count nouns may appear without a central determiner in generic or non-specific reference (water is essential, researchers conducted studies), but this zero article construction is itself a determiner choice — the choice to present the noun phrase as indefinite, generic, and non-specific. The absence of a determiner is as meaningful as its presence.

2. Central Determiners

Central determiners occupy the core determiner position in the noun phrase. Only one central determiner can appear in a given noun phrase, they cannot co-occur with one another, and for singular count nouns their presence is obligatory. They form the heart of the determiner system.

A. The Articles

The articles — the, a/an, and the zero article — constitute the most fundamental and most frequently used determiners in English. They encode the most basic distinction the determiner system makes: whether the noun phrase's referent is identifiable to the listener (definite) or not yet identifiable (indefinite).

The Definite Article: The

The is the most frequently used word in the English language. Its function is deceptively simple and endlessly nuanced: it signals that the noun phrase's referent is uniquely identifiable in the context of the utterance — that the speaker assumes the listener can determine which specific entity is being referred to.

Identifiability can be established in several ways:

Prior mention (anaphoric use): The referent has already been introduced into the discourse:

A researcher entered the room. The researcher sat down immediately. (the researcher refers back to a researcher already introduced)
An anomaly was detected. The anomaly persisted across all trials.

Shared situational knowledge (deictic use): The referent is uniquely identifiable from the physical context of the utterance:

Please close the door. (there is one salient door in the context)
The equipment needs calibrating. (the equipment present in the shared context)

Encyclopedic uniqueness: The referent is uniquely identifiable because only one such entity exists in the relevant universe of discourse:

The sun rises in the east.
The president addressed the nation.
The equator divides the planet into two hemispheres.

Structural uniqueness (established by postmodification): The referent is uniquely identifiable because the noun is modified by a phrase or clause that singles it out:

The researcher who conducted the study presented her findings.
The result of the third experiment was unexpected.
The only viable interpretation of the data is this.

Institutional or cultural familiarity: Certain institutions and locations are treated as uniquely identifiable within a cultural context:

She went to the library / the hospital / the cinema / the bank.
He studied at the university. (in contexts where one university is culturally salient)

Extended Discussion — Definiteness and Shared Knowledge:

The definite article is fundamentally a cooperative, social mechanism. When a speaker uses the, they are making a claim about the listener's mental state — asserting that the listener has access to enough information to identify the referent. This is why the can feel presumptuous when misused: hand me the wrench in a context where there are multiple wrenches or where the listener has no reason to know which wrench is meant violates the social contract that the establishes. The article the is not merely a grammatical marker — it is a signal of assumed common ground between speaker and listener.

The Indefinite Article: A/An

A/an introduces a noun phrase whose referent is not yet identifiable to the listener — a new, unspecified member of a class being introduced into the discourse for the first time or referred to non-specifically.

First mention (introducing a new referent):

A researcher published a paper on the topic. (this specific researcher is being introduced to the discourse for the first time)
An anomaly was detected in the third trial.

Non-specific reference (any member of the class):

She needed a microscope. (not a specific one — any microscope of the appropriate type)
He consulted a statistician. (some statistician, unspecified)

Classificatory use (asserting class membership):

Darwin was a naturalist.
This is a significant finding.
She is an expert in computational linguistics.

Generic use (the typical member of the class):

A researcher must be willing to revise their assumptions.
An electron carries a negative charge.

The Form A vs. An:

The choice between a and an is phonological, not orthographic — an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound, a before words beginning with a consonant sound, regardless of spelling:

an hour (the h is silent; the word begins with a vowel sound)
a university (begins with the consonant sound /j/)
an MBA (the letter M is pronounced em, beginning with a vowel sound)
a European (begins with the consonant sound /j/)
an honest assessment (the h is silent)

The Zero Article

The zero article — the deliberate absence of any article — is a meaningful determiner choice, not a gap in the system. It is used in several distinct contexts:

Generic reference with mass nouns:

Water is essential for life.
Research requires patience.
Knowledge advances incrementally.

Generic reference with plural count nouns:

Researchers must disclose their funding sources.
Experiments should be replicable.
Findings require independent verification.

Proper nouns:

Darwin proposed natural selection.
Cambridge is renowned for its research culture.

Certain institutional and locational nouns in conventional phrases:

She is in hospital. (British English — as a patient)
He is at university. (British English — as a student)
They went to church / school / work / bed / sea.

These conventional phrases treat the institution not as a specific building (which would require the) but as a function or activity — at university means engaged in the activity of studying, not physically located in a specific building.

Abstract nouns in general statements:

Justice must be pursued through legitimate means.
Courage is not the absence of fear.
Time is the most finite resource.

B. Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners — this, that, these, those — point to their referent, locating it in physical or discursive space relative to the speaker. They share their forms with the demonstrative pronouns discussed in the pronoun taxonomy, but here they function as determiners, modifying a noun rather than standing alone.

The system is organized along two dimensions: proximity (near vs. distant) and number (singular vs. plural):

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

	Singular	Plural
Proximal (near)	this	these
Distal (distant)	that	those

Spatial Deixis:

In their primary use, demonstrative determiners locate the noun's referent in physical space relative to the speaker:

This sample is contaminated. (near the speaker)
That instrument needs calibrating. (away from the speaker)
These results are consistent with the hypothesis. (near — often just obtained)
Those findings were published last year. (distant — temporally or physically)

Discourse Deixis (Anaphoric and Cataphoric):

Demonstratives also point within the discourse rather than the physical world:

Anaphoric (pointing back): The study found a significant correlation. This finding challenges previous models.\nCataphoric (pointing forward): This conclusion follows from the data: ...

Evaluative and Attitudinal Distance:

Beyond spatial and discourse deixis, the proximal/distal distinction encodes psychological and evaluative distance. That and those can signal detachment, criticism, or dissociation from the noun's referent:

That methodology is simply inadequate. (more distancing and critical than this methodology)
Those researchers have misrepresented the data. (detachment, possibly disapproval)
This researcher vs. that researcher — the choice encodes how the speaker positions themselves relative to the entity

C. Possessive Determiners

Possessive determiners — my, your, his, her, its, our, their — indicate that the noun's referent stands in a relationship of possession, association, or belonging to the person indicated. They share their paradigm with the possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs) but differ in that they modify a noun rather than stand alone.

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Person	Singular	Plural
1st person	my	our
2nd person	your	your
3rd person masculine	his	—
3rd person feminine	her	—
3rd person neuter	its	—
3rd person plural	—	their
Epicene singular	their	—

The Scope of Possession:

The relationship encoded by possessive determiners is far broader than literal ownership. It includes:

Ownership: my microscope, her laboratory, their equipment\nKinship and personal relationships: my colleague, her supervisor, their mentor\nPart-whole relationships: its surface, my argument, her methodology\nExperiential relationships: his discovery, their finding, my impression\nInstitutional association: our department, their university, my committee\nHabitual or assigned roles: her turn, my responsibility, their assignment

Its vs. It's:

The possessive determiner its is one of the most persistently confused items in written English. Its (no apostrophe) is the possessive determiner: the study and its findings, the committee and its recommendations. It's (with apostrophe) is the contracted form of it is or it has: it's raining, it's been confirmed. The apostrophe in English possessives (the researcher's data) does not extend to pronouns — his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours are all written without apostrophes.

D. Interrogative Determiners

Interrogative determiners — which, what, whose — introduce questions about the noun they modify, requesting identification of the referent from among a set of possibilities.

Which — asks for a selection from a specific, implied, or stated set:

Which methodology did the committee approve?
Which of the three variables showed the strongest effect?\nWhich presupposes a bounded set of options.

What — asks for identification from an open, unbounded set:

What methodology was used?
What evidence supports the claim?\nWhat does not presuppose a specific set of alternatives.

Whose — asks about possession or association:

Whose data was used in the analysis?
Whose methodology did she adopt?

E. Relative Determiners

Relative determiners introduce relative clauses in which the determiner modifies a noun within the subordinate clause while the whole noun phrase relates to the antecedent in the main clause. The primary relative determiner is whose, which functions as a possessive relative:

The researcher whose methodology was questioned responded in writing. (whose modifies methodology within the relative clause)
A theory whose predictions have been consistently confirmed deserves serious attention.
The laboratory whose equipment was damaged received emergency funding.

Which and what can also function as relative determiners in certain formal constructions:

She published the findings, which publication sparked considerable debate. (formal, rare)
He donated what resources he had to the project. (what as relative determiner)

3. Predeterminers

Predeterminers occupy the position before the central determiner in the noun phrase. They form a small, closed set and impose specific constraints on what follows them.

A. Multiplying Predeterminers

Double, twice, three times, half, once — these predeterminers multiply or partition the quantity expressed by the central determiner and head noun:

double the recommended dosage
twice the sample size
half the participants withdrew
three times the expected effect size

These constructions require the definite article the or a possessive determiner as the central determiner — they cannot precede a/an or demonstratives: ?double a dosage, ?twice this amount are both anomalous.

B. Broad Reference Predeterminers: All and Both

All and both are the most common predeterminers. They take wide scope over the entire noun phrase, asserting total inclusion of the set defined by the head noun.

All — total inclusion across any set:

all the researchers (every one of them, out of the entire group)
all her findings (the complete set of findings)
all this evidence (the totality of the evidence)
all three experiments (every one of a specified number)

Both — total inclusion across a set of exactly two:

both the experiments (each of the two experiments)
both her supervisors (each of her two supervisors)
both these results (each of these two results)

All and both can also appear without a following central determiner when modifying plural or mass nouns directly, but their predeterminer status is clearest when they precede the, a possessive, or a demonstrative.

All vs. Every vs. Each:

All, every, and each are frequently confused but perform distinct operations:

All — treats the set as a totality, as a collective whole:

All the researchers attended. (the group as a whole attended)

Every — treats the set as exhaustively enumerated individuals, one by one:

Every researcher attended. (each one, without exception — more emphatic than all)

Each — treats the members of the set as discrete individuals considered separately:

Each researcher attended. (individually — focuses on each one separately rather than the group)

The distinction between all and every is one of collective vs. distributive reference. All the windows were broken can mean the windows collectively were broken (as a group — e.g., by a blast wave). Every window was broken means each individual window was broken. Each window was broken focuses on the individual windows one at a time.

C. Exclamative Predeterminers: Such and What

Such and what introduce exclamative noun phrases — noun phrases that express the speaker's emotional reaction to the degree or quality of what is named.

Such — precedes a/an with singular count nouns, or precedes plural and mass nouns directly:

Such a remarkable discovery deserves wider recognition.
Such findings are rare in the literature.
Such determination is admirable.
It was such a significant moment.

What — introduces exclamatives, expressing astonishment at the degree or nature of the referent:

What a significant contribution!
What extraordinary findings!
What patience she showed throughout the process.
What progress has been made in this field.

Both such and what in these constructions are semantically evaluative — they signal that the noun's referent exemplifies the quality in question to a remarkable degree. What a discovery does not merely name a discovery; it asserts that the discovery is of exceptional quality or significance.

D. Negative Predeterminer: No Such

The phrase no such functions as a predeterminer combination expressing that nothing fitting the description exists:

No such evidence has been found.
No such methodology exists in the current literature.
No such claim was made in the original paper.

4. Postdeterminers

Postdeterminers follow the central determiner and precede any adjectives in the noun phrase. They include ordinal numbers, cardinal numbers, and a small set of adjective-like quantifying words that have determiner-like properties.

A. Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third, fourth...last, next, previous, subsequent, further) indicate position in a sequence. They follow the central determiner and precede descriptive adjectives:

the first significant finding
her second major publication
the next available participant
the last viable hypothesis
the previous experimental design

Ordinals are semantically presuppositional — the first finding presupposes that there are or will be subsequent findings; the last participant presupposes a finite, ordered set.

B. Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers (one, two, three, four...) indicate quantity and follow the central determiner:

the three experiments
her two supervisors
these five findings
the hundred participants

When used without a preceding central determiner in indefinite contexts, cardinal numbers function as independent determiners:

Three researchers attended. (three here occupies the central determiner position)
Two anomalies were detected.

C. Quantifying Postdeterminers

A small set of words function as postdeterminers by quantifying the noun's referent while following the central determiner: many, few, several, little, much, more, most, less, fewer, other, another.

the many challenges facing the field
her few remaining options
the several methodological problems
his other published work

These items are postdeterminers when they follow a central determiner (the many, her few, his other) and central determiners when they stand alone without a preceding article or possessive (many researchers, few options, several findings).

5. Quantifying Determiners

Quantifying determiners express the quantity of the noun's referent — how many or how much. They form the largest and most semantically varied subclass of determiners and span the full range from total inclusion to total exclusion.

A. Universal Quantifiers

Universal quantifiers assert that a property holds for every member of a set — they express total inclusion.

Every — distributive universal; considers each member of the set individually:

Every participant completed the questionnaire.
Every finding requires independent verification.
Every methodology has limitations.

Every requires a singular head noun and takes singular verb agreement. It cannot be used with a central determiner: ?the every participant is ungrammatical.

Each — distributive universal with a stronger emphasis on individuality:

Each participant was briefed separately.
Each finding was analyzed independently.
Each variable was controlled with equal rigor.

Each can modify singular nouns in the same position as every but can also appear postpositively (the participants each received a briefing) and is more flexible in its syntactic behavior.

All — collective universal; considers the set as a whole:

All participants completed the questionnaire. (the group collectively)
All evidence must be disclosed.
All three experiments produced consistent results.

Extended Discussion — Each, Every, and All with Negation:

The scope of negation interacts with universal quantifiers in ways that are logically important and frequently mishandled:

Not all researchers agree. (some do not — partial negation of the universal)\nNo researcher agrees. (none do — total negation)\nNot every finding is significant. (some are not)\nEvery finding is not significant. (ambiguous — can mean none are, or not all are)

The distinction between not all (partial negation) and no (total negation) is essential for precision in academic writing. Not all the results were significant is a very different claim from None of the results were significant, yet careless writing frequently blurs the distinction.

B. Existential Quantifiers

Existential quantifiers assert the existence of at least one member of the set satisfying the description — they do not specify how many, only that some exist.

A/an — the indefinite article in its quantifying function; asserts the existence of one unspecified member:

A significant correlation was found. (at least one, unspecified)

Some — asserts the existence of an unspecified quantity, more than one:

Some participants withdrew before completion.
Some evidence supports the claim.
She found some anomalies in the data.

Some is used in affirmative contexts and in questions where a positive answer is expected. Its distribution is complementary with any in negative and conditional contexts (discussed below).

Any — existential quantifier in negative, conditional, and open-question contexts:

Did any participants withdraw? (open question)
She did not find any anomalies. (negative context)
If any evidence emerges, it must be disclosed. (conditional)
Any methodology that produces replicable results is acceptable. (free choice — any one at all)

The Some vs. Any Distribution:

The complementary distribution of some and any is one of the more nuanced features of English determiner grammar:

Some in affirmatives and positive-expectation questions: She found some interesting results. Would you like some feedback?\nAny in negatives, conditionals, and neutral questions: She did not find any results. I will review any submissions. Did you find any results?\nAny in free-choice universals (meaning whatever/whichever): Any researcher would reach the same conclusion. (= every researcher, without exception)

C. Large Quantity Determiners

Many — large quantity with count nouns:

Many researchers have attempted to replicate the finding.
Many variables were left uncontrolled.

Much — large quantity with mass nouns:

Much evidence has accumulated since the original publication.
Much progress has been made in understanding the mechanism.

Many and much tend to appear in negative and interrogative contexts in informal English (?I have many friends sounds formal; I don't have many friends is natural), with a lot of serving as the informal affirmative counterpart in both count and mass contexts.

A lot of / lots of / plenty of — informal large quantity determiners applicable to both count and mass nouns:

A lot of participants withdrew before completion.
There is plenty of evidence to support the claim.

D. Small Quantity Determiners

Few / a few — small quantity with count nouns, with a critical semantic distinction:

Few (without article) — small quantity with a negative implication; fewer than expected or desired:

Few researchers have replicated the finding. (not many — implying scarcity or insufficiency)
Few of the participants completed all three phases.

A few (with indefinite article) — small quantity with a positive or neutral implication; some, a small but real number:

A few researchers have replicated the finding. (some — replication exists, however limited)
A few of the participants completed all three phases.

Little / a little — the parallel distinction with mass nouns:

Little — small quantity with negative implication:

Little evidence supports the alternative hypothesis. (insufficient evidence)
Little progress was made during the first phase.

A little — small quantity with positive implication:

A little evidence has emerged to support the claim. (some evidence exists)
She made a little progress before the funding ran out.

This few/a few and little/a little distinction is one of the most semantically precise tools in the English determiner system — the presence or absence of the indefinite article completely inverts the pragmatic implication of the quantity expression.

E. Negative Quantifier: No

No is the total negative quantifier — it asserts that the set has zero members satisfying the description. It is distinct from not a and not any in that it is a single determiner and combines directly with the noun:

No evidence was found to support the claim.
No participant withdrew during the second phase.
No methodology is without limitations.
No such effect has been observed under controlled conditions.

No differs from not any in emphasis and register: No evidence was found is more definitive and formal; We didn't find any evidence is more conversational. The logical content is equivalent, but the rhetorical weight differs.

F. Proportional and Partitive Determiners

Enough — sufficiency; the quantity is adequate for the purpose:

Enough evidence has accumulated to support the hypothesis.
There were enough participants to achieve statistical power.

Sufficient — formal equivalent of enough, typically postdeterminer in position:

Sufficient data was collected to permit a full analysis.

Several — more than two but not very many; an informal quantifier expressing a small but meaningful plurality:

Several anomalies were detected in the dataset.
She consulted several statisticians before finalizing the methodology.

Either — one or the other of two; can function as a universal over a set of two:

Either methodology would produce valid results.
She could not find support in either study.

Neither — none of two; the negative universal over a set of two:

Neither methodology was adequate for the task.
Neither finding was subsequently replicated.

6. Distributive and Difference Determiners

A. Distributive Determiners

Distributive determiners consider the members of a set individually rather than collectively.

Each and every (discussed above under universal quantifiers) are the primary distributive determiners.

Either — distributive across a set of two, asserting that both alternatives are valid or that the property holds for each:

Either approach is acceptable. (whichever one you choose)
There are problems with either methodology. (with each of them)

B. Difference Determiners

Difference determiners signal that the noun's referent is different from a previously mentioned entity or from a default expectation.

Another — a different one, or one additional one; singular:

Another explanation is possible. (a different explanation)
She conducted another experiment. (one more)

Other — different ones; used with plural count nouns and mass nouns:

Other researchers have reached different conclusions.
Other evidence must be considered.

The other — the remaining one of a pair or the remaining members of a group:

One hypothesis was confirmed; the other was rejected.
The other participants completed the study without difficulty.

Different — when used as a determiner (rather than a predicative adjective), signals a contrast with what might be expected:

A different approach was needed.
Different methodologies were applied to the two datasets.

7. The Determiner-Pronoun Interface

Many determiners share their forms with pronouns, and the relationship between the two categories illuminates both. The key distinction is syntactic: determiners modify a noun and cannot stand alone; pronouns replace a noun phrase and stand independently.

Demonstratives:

Determiner: This finding is significant. (this modifies finding)
Pronoun: This is significant. (this stands alone as subject)

Possessives:

Determiner: Her methodology was sound. (her modifies methodology)
Pronoun: The methodology was hers. (hers stands alone as subject complement)

Quantifiers:

Determiner: Some evidence was found. (some modifies evidence)
Pronoun: Some was found. (some stands alone as subject)

Interrogatives:

Determiner: Which methodology was approved? (which modifies methodology)
Pronoun: Which was approved? (which stands alone as subject)

The same form performing two different syntactic functions is characteristic of English grammar — a language that encodes grammatical distinctions through position and function rather than through morphological case marking. The category of a word is determined not by its form alone but by what it does in the sentence.

8. Determiners in Academic and Formal Prose

The determiner system is of particular importance in academic writing because determiner choice is one of the primary mechanisms through which writers manage reference — establishing, tracking, and specifying the entities that arguments are built around.

The Role of the Definite Article in Argument Construction:

In academic prose, the shift from a to the tracks the movement of an entity from new information to established information. The first mention of a concept, finding, or entity takes the indefinite article; subsequent mentions take the definite. This pattern is so fundamental to cohesion in extended prose that violations of it produce texts that feel disordered and difficult to follow:

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis. The study examined three variables. The first variable was...

The progression from a study (new, introduced) to the study (established, tracked) to the first variable (a part of the study, identifiable through the part-whole relationship) is a model of how academic prose uses the article system to build cohesion across sentences.

Quantifier Precision in Claims:

The choice among quantifiers — all, most, many, some, few, a few, any, no — directly encodes the scope and strength of a claim, and imprecise quantifier use is one of the most common sources of overclaiming or underclaiming in academic writing:

All previous studies confirm the finding. (universal — a very strong claim, vulnerable to a single counterexample)
Most previous studies confirm the finding. (majority — strong but not universal)
Many previous studies confirm the finding. (a large number — less precise than most)
Some previous studies confirm the finding. (an unspecified portion — minimal claim)
Few previous studies confirm the finding. (a small number — implying insufficient support)
No previous studies confirm the finding. (total absence — as strong as all but in the negative direction)

The epistemically responsible choice among these quantifiers is one of the most consequential decisions in academic writing, and it requires not just knowledge of the determiner system but knowledge of the evidence itself.

Conclusion

This taxonomy demonstrates that the English determiner system is a precisely structured, functionally essential, and semantically rich subsystem of grammar, operating across positional, referential, quantificational, and deictic dimensions simultaneously. A noun phrase like all the remaining significant findings deploys four distinct grammatical elements — predeterminer, central determiner, postdeterminer, and adjective — in a strict positional hierarchy that native speakers navigate effortlessly and that analysis reveals to be extraordinarily systematic.

What unifies the class is a shared functional orientation: determiners anchor noun phrases to the context of use. They answer the question that every noun phrase must answer before it can do its work in discourse — which one? how many? whose? which of these? any at all? none? The noun names the entity. The determiner tells us how to find it, how many of it there are, whose it is, whether it is already known or newly introduced, and whether the speaker is pointing to it, possessing it, quantifying it, or questioning it. Without determiners, nouns would float free of context — nameable but unreachable. With them, the noun phrase is connected to the world, to the discourse, and to the minds of the people using the language.