The double genitive

The 's construction can be used after the of-construction in: e.g. a friend of my fathers, a play of Shakespeare s (= one of my father's friends; one of Shakespeare's plays). This can happen because we usually put only one determiner in front of a noun [> 3.4], so, for example, we would not use this and my together in front of e.g. son. Instead, we have to say this son of mine. And note other possessive pronouns: a friend of yours, a cousin of hers, etc. We can use a this that, these those some any, no, etc. in front of the noun, but not the:

Isn' t Frank Byers a friend of yours? He's a friend of mine is more common than He is my friend, which implies he is my special or only friend. He's no friend of mine can mean 'I don't know him' or 'He's my enemy'. The use of demonstratives [> 4.32-36] often suggests criticism:

That silly uncle of yours has told me the same joke five times

3 Articles

General information about 'a/an', 'the' and the zero article

Determiners: what they are and what they do

We use a number of words in front of common nouns (or adjective + common noun) which we call determiners because they affect (or 'determine') the meaning of the noun. Determiners make it clear, for example, which particular thing(s) we are referring to or how much of a substance we are talking about. Singular countable nouns must normally have a determiner in front of them. There are two classes:

1 Words which help us to classify or identify:

- indefinite article: / bought a new shirt yesterday

(but it's not necessary to say which)

- definite article: The shirt I am wearing is new.

(i.e. I am telling you which)

- demonstratives [> 4.32]: / bought this/that shirt yesterday

(i.e. the one I am showing you)

- possessives [> 4.19]: Do you like my new shirt?

(i.e. the one that belongs to me)

2 Words which enable us to indicate quantity:

- numbers [> App 47]: / bought two new shirts yesterday

(i.e. that's how many I bought)

- quantifiers [> 5.1]: / didn't buy many new shirts yesterday

(i.e. not a great number)

There wasn't much material in the shop

(i.e. not a great quantity)

Proper nouns [> 2.13] do not generally require identification, but for place names, etc. [> 3.22, 3.31]: John is flying to Helsinki on Tuesday.