Articles and
Determiners
Articles and
determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are
different than adjectives in that they are necessary for a sentence to have
proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify and identify nouns, and there
are indefinite and definite articles. Examples: articles: a, an, the; determiners: these, that, those, enough, much, few, which, what.
Some
traditional grammars have treated articles as
a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however, more often include
articles in the category of determiners, which
identify or quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives,
articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a
sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a
sentence, while adjectives are optional.