Talk:a certain

"a" certain?

This should be just "certain." In all the provided meanings you can use it in plural just as well. Hythonia (talk) 13:00, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

It is classified as a determinative by SIEG2. Victor Bob [talk] 13:20, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

@Brett:, any thoughts? Victor Bob [talk] 13:29, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

I don't know about that (as in, I assume it's A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, I don't have the book), but it definitely can be used and is used in the plural.

• Minnesotans can now legally transport certain amounts of marijuana in their vehicles, and law enforcement may not conduct a warrantless search of a car based on the smell of the plant alone. [1]
• I developed certain doubts about the portrait, especially after I saw the X-ray of it. [2]
• But certain gentlemen in various parts of Africa have now taken the look to the next level. [3]

One example for each meaning respectively, and there are countless more. I'm also kind of unsure whether these are, in fact, three separate meanings and not all the third one; from the examples already in the entry:

• People who earn under a certain amount are not liable to pay tax. The amount is "definite or particular, but not named or specified."
• I agree your draft to a certain degree. The degree is "definite or particular, but not named or specified."
• I have a certain hesitation. The hesitation is "blah blah," blah blah, you've caught my drift by this point.

Hythonia (talk) 13:31, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

The adjective certain clearly exists. The determinative also, as in Certain of the Services may be subject to additional terms. Adjectives do not participate in the partitive construction like this. This is clearly the certain of the examples @Hythonia: gives.

The question, then, is whether a certain qualifies as a complex determiner in the way that a few or a little do.

• Can we replace a with another determiner? I think not with the, each, both, many, etc. Perhaps some certain amount is acceptable in some cases, but it's very rare and restricted.
• How about two certain amounts? No.
• Can we put another modifier before certain? No.

This evidence suggests to me that it's a determiner, and not a plus an adjective.--Brett (talk) 18:49, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

Okay, hm. These points are all fair. I concede that it does seem to be a two-word determiner from what you're saying, but I still have my doubts concerning the separation of meanings. Hythonia (talk) 18:56, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

How is it now? Victor Bob [talk] 04:09, 11 December 2023 (UTC)