Determiners
indefinite determiners
Indefinite determiners qualify nouns and express the indefinite idea of quality (certain, any) or quantity (not one, each, different, several). They agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Some indefinite determiners may be used as indefinite pronouns to replace a noun.
- aucun (aucune), not one, not a single
- certains (certaines), certain
- chaque, each, every
- différents (différentes), various, some
- divers (diverses), various, some
- plusieurs, several
- quelques, a few
- tout, all, every
Listen to the following dialogue:
| Bette: Il n’y a aucun doute. Tu finiras mère au foyer! | Bette: There is no doubt. You’ll end up a housewife! | |
| Tammy: Chaque jour, tu trouves une méchanceté à dire. Aucune chatte n’est aussi désagréable que toi! | Tammy: Every day, you find something nasty to say. No cat is as unpleasant as you are! | |
| Bette: Mais ouvre les yeux Tammy! Ton futur mari a plusieurs défauts. Il est snob, prétentieux et veut toujours avoir raison. | Bette: Open your eyes Tammy! Your future husband has several negative traits. He is snobbish, pretentious and always wants to be right. | |
| Tammy: Mais il a aussi quelques qualités: il est beau et talentueux. Certains éditeurs pensent qu’il est le prochain prix Goncourt! | Tammy: But he also has a few good points: he is handsome and talented. Some publishers think that he is the next Goncourt prize winner. | |
| Bette tout bas: Tu parles! | Bette under her breath: Yeah, right! |
