Category talk:Determiners

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Isn't this just a technical word for adjective? I know that it includes articles, but you could just as easily say that articles are a very special kind of adjective. --Cromwellt|talk|contribs 22:02, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

The argument that articles are just special ajectives doesn't really get you very far. Basically it confuses a position in a phrase (modifier) with a word category (adjective). If we talk about Apple comptuers, Apple is a modifer, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a noun, and a proper one at that. You can't start calling every modifier an adjective.

The fact is that adjectives are never obligatory in English grammar. Determiners are. There are numerous other grammatical arguments, but the main point is just this: adjectives very rarely cause learner's problems. Determiners do, so pointing them out should help learners use and understand them better.