DET: determiner
Definition
Determiners are words that express the reference of a noun phrase in context. They typically modify a noun and provide grammatical information such as definiteness, specificity, and quantity. In Spanish, determiners agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
The DET tag is used for the following categories of determiners in Spanish:
- Articles: Definite el, la, los, las “the” and indefinite articles un, una, unos, unas “a, some”.
- Demonstratives: este, esta “this”, estos, estas “these”, ese, esa “that”, esos, esas “those”, aquel, aquella “that (far)”, aquellos, aquellas “those (far)”.
- Possessives: mi, mis “my”, tu, tus “your”, su, sus “his/her/its/your (formal)/their”, nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras “our”, vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras “your (informal plural)”.
- Quantifiers: todo, toda, todos, todas “all”, mucho, mucha, muchos, muchas “much/many”, poco, poca, pocos, pocas “little/few”, algún, alguna, algunos, algunas “some”, ningún, ninguna “none”, bastantes “enough, quite a few”, varios, varias “several”.
Quantifiers can also be used as PRON, where they stand alone and do not modify a noun. For example, todos can mean “all” when modifying a noun, but can also mean “everyone” when used as a pronoun.
In spoken Spanish, stressed possessive determiners can sometimes be placed after the noun they modify, especially in informal contexts or for emphasis. This word order is more common in certain regions and dialects. However, the stressed possessive determiner still agrees in gender and number with the noun.
Examples:
- la casa mía “my house” instead of mi casa
- la suegra suya “his/her mother-in-law” instead of su suegra
In addition to the previously mentioned determiners, stressed possessive determiners could also be included in the list of Spanish determiners classified under the DET tag. Stressed possessives are used for emphasis and agree in gender and number with the noun they modify in different contexts they are usually classifed as PRON
Stressed Possessives: mío, mía, míos, mías, “mine”, tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas, “yours”, suyo, suya, suyos, suyas, “his, hers, its, theirs”, nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras, “ours”, vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras, “yours”
Examples:
- Stressed possessive: Esa bicicleta es mía “That bicycle is mine.”
DET in other languages: [bej] [bg] [bm] [cs] [cy] [da] [de] [el] [en] [es] [ess] [et] [fi] [fro] [fr] [ga] [grc] [hu] [hy] [it] [ja] [kk] [kpv] [ky] [myv] [no] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [ru] [sla] [sl] [sv] [tr] [tt] [uk] [u] [urj] [yue] [zh]