Reference tables

Adjectival Determiners

Determiner Class	Adjectival?	Example
Articles	No	the, a, an → the dog
Demonstratives	Yes	this, that, these, those → this book
Possessives	No	my, your, his → my pen
Numbers	Yes	one, two, first → three cats
Distributives	Yes	each, every, either, neither → each student
Quantifiers / general	Sometimes	some, many, all → many friends
Interrogative determiners	Yes	which, what, whose → which book

That: roles of

Role	Function / Explanation	Example
Relative pronoun	Introduces a relative clause (often restrictive) and refers back to a noun.	The book that you lent me was fascinating. (“that” = “book”)
Subordinating conjunction	Introduces a noun clause, often after verbs like “think,” “know,” “say,” etc.	I think that she is right.
Demonstrative pronoun	Refers to a specific thing or idea, often pointing at something farther away in space or time.	That is amazing! (“that” refers to something mentioned or visible)
Demonstrative adjective / determiner	Modifies a noun to indicate a specific one.	I don’t like that movie.
Expletive / filler (less common, literary)	Used for emphasis in clauses without adding meaning.	It is such that we cannot ignore it. (formal/literary)
Conjunction (older/dialectic)	Historically and in some dialects, that can function as a coordinating conjunction meaning “and”.	The storm grew darker, that we sought shelter in the barn.”. (that=and)

Demonstrative pronouns vs. demonstrative determiners (adjectives):

Feature	Demonstrative Pronoun	Demonstrative Determiner (Adjective)
Function	Replaces a noun entirely	Modifies a noun, points out which one
Accompanies a noun?	No	Yes, it always comes before a noun
Examples	This is amazing. / That was fun.	This book is amazing. / Those movies were fun.
Grammatical role	Acts as the subject, object, or complement	Acts as an adjective modifying a noun
Notes	Can stand alone	Cannot stand alone; needs a noun to modify

Examples:

Word	As a pronoun	As a determiner
this	This is delicious. (stands alone, subject)	This cake is delicious. (modifies noun “cake”)
that	That was amazing.	That movie was amazing.
these	These are mine.	These shoes are mine.
those	Those look great.	Those flowers look great.

Personal pronouns by case

Person / Number	Subjective Case	Objective Case	Possessive Determiner	Possessive Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun
First Person Singular	I	me	my	mine	myself
Second Person Singular	you	you	your	yours	yourself
Third Person Singular	he / she / it	him / her / it	his / her / its	his / hers / its	himself / herself / itself
First Person Plural	we	us	our	ours	ourselves
Second Person Plural	you	you	your	yours	yourselves
Third Person Plural	they	them	their	theirs	themselves

When you can drop a relative pronoun

Clause type	Pronoun role	Can you drop it?	Example
Restrictive	Subject	❌ No	The person who called you…
Restrictive	Object	✅ Yes	The book (that) I read…
Non-restrictive	Subject	❌ No	My uncle, who lives in Paris…
Non-restrictive	Object	❌ No (in standard English)	My uncle, whom I met yesterday…

Complementizers

Complementizer	Type	Can Function as Pronoun?	Can Function as Adverb?	Example as Complementizer	Example as Pronoun/Adverb
that	complementizer	No (modern English)	No	I know that you’re right.	–
who	pronoun	Yes	No	She asked who called.	Who called? (pronoun)
whom	pronoun	Yes	No	I don’t know whom to invite.	Whom did you see? (pronoun)
which	pronoun	Yes	No	I don’t know which to choose.	Which is yours? (pronoun)
what	pronoun	Yes	No	Tell me what you want.	What is that? (pronoun)
whose	pronoun	Yes	No	I don’t know whose it is.	Whose book is this? (pronoun)
when	adverb	No	Yes	I remember when we met.	When did you arrive? (adverb)
where	adverb	No	Yes	She showed me where to go.	Where are you going? (adverb)
why	adverb	No	Yes	I wonder why he left.	Why did he leave? (adverb)
how	adverb	No	Yes	He explained how it works.	How did you do that? (adverb)
if	conjunction/complementizer	No	No	I asked if she agreed.	–
whether	conjunction/complementizer	No	No	I don’t know whether to stay.	–

Genitives types

Phrase	Wrong	✅ Correct
the teacher’s car	complement	genitive determiner
a bottle of wine	complement?	“of wine” = complement (because of-phrases after nouns like bottle/type/idea are complements!)
John’s arrival	complement	dependent genitive

Prepositional Relative Marker

A two-part connector that introduces a relative clause, made up of Preposition + Relative pronoun

Preposition	Relative Pronoun	Combined (Prepositional Relative Marker)
in	which	in which
for	whom	for whom
with	which	with which
to	which	to which
by	whom	by whom

Common “wh” word and their function

Word	Can be relative pronoun?	Can be relative adverb?	Notes
who	✅	❌	Refers to people; can be subject or object of relative clause
whom	✅	❌	Object form of “who”
whose	✅	❌	Possessive relative pronoun
which	✅	❌	Refers to things/animals; can be subject or object
that	✅	❌	Can refer to people or things; restrictive only
where	✅ (relative pronoun/adjective)	✅	Refers to place; replaces “in/on which”
when	✅ (relative pronoun/adjective)	✅	Refers to time; replaces “on/in which”
why	❌	✅	Refers to reason; “for which”

Possessives

Type	Specific Items	Example Sentence	Explanation
Possessive Pronouns	mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, [no it]	This pen is mine.	“Mine” replaces “my pen.”
Possessive Adjectives	my, your, his, her, its, our, their	My phone is on the table.	“My” modifies “phone” to show ownership.
Possessive Determiners	my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose	Our team won the match.	“Our” modifies “team” to indicate possession. Whose is a determiner too but not an adjective.

Common Postmodifiers

Type of Postmodifier	Structure / Form	Example	Notes
Adjectival phrase	Adjective or coordinated adjectives	“faults, pure and simple”	Often emphatic; no verb required
Prepositional phrase	Prep + NP	“the shadow side of aspects”	Functions adjectivally; modifies the noun
Relative clause	Relative pronoun/adverb + clause	“aspects that are genuinely good about them”	Can be restrictive or non-restrictive
Participial phrase	Present or past participle phrase	“a window broken by vandals”	Functions adjectivally; modifies noun
Infinitive phrase	To + verb	“the best person to ask”	Functions adjectivally; describes the noun
Appositive phrase	NP that renames the noun	“my friend, a skilled violinist”	Often set off by commas; emphasizes or clarifies

Attributive vs. Predicative

Feature	Attributive	Predicative	Examples
Position	Inside the noun phrase, directly modifying the noun	Clause-level, usually after a copular verb	a heavy book vs The book is heavy
Function	Modifies or determines the noun	Ascribes a property, identity, or relation to the subject	“heavy” modifies “book” vs “heavy” describes “book”
Applicability to adjectives	✔	✔	old friend / The friend is old
Applicability to determiners	✔	✖ (cannot occur predicatively)	the book / *The book is the
Possessives	✔ (my book)	✔ (The book is mine)	Attributive: my, Predicative: mine
Articles	✔ (the book, a book)	✖	Cannot appear after copula

Predicative adjectives, their complements, and optionality

Adjective	Complement Type	Example	Realization (optional/obligatory)	Notes
proud	PP	She is proud of her achievements	Optional (She is proud ✅)	Predicative adjective; morphology irrelevant
certain	that-clause	He is certain that she will come	Often obligatory for full meaning (He is certain ✅)	Simple adjective; complement lexically specified
eager	to-infinitive	She is eager to help	Optional (She is eager ✅)	Predicative adjective; complements to-infinitive
interested	PP	He is interested in linguistics	Optional (He is interested ✅)	Derived from verb interest; syntactically behaves like other predicative adjectives

Complements

Feature	Predicative Complement	Object Complement	Adjective Complement
Describes	Subject (identifies or describes the subject)	Object (completes or specifies the object)	Adjective (completes or specifies the meaning of the adjective)
Selected by	Verb, usually copula or linking verb (part of verb’s valency)	Verb (part of the verb’s valency)	Adjective (predicative adjective licenses the complement as part of its lexical valency)
Formal CGEL definition	“A complement licensed by a copular or linking verb that predicates the subject”	“A complement that is licensed by the verb and completes or specifies the object NP”	“A complement licensed by a predicative adjective that completes its meaning; may be PP, NP, infinitival, or clause”
Example	He is president	They elected him president	She is proud of her achievements
Syntactic position	Follows copula/linking verb	Follows object	Follows adjective
Optionality	Often obligatory with copula	May be optional or obligatory depending on verb	Determined by adjective; usually obligatory if the adjective selects it

Primary vs. secondary predicative

Type	Predicated NP	Licensing	Example
Primary predicative	Subject NP	Copular/linking verb (be, seem, become)	The door is unlocked → unlocked predicates the subject
Secondary predicative	Usually object NP (can be subject as depictive)	Non-copular verb that allows result/state	I left the door unlocked → unlocked predicates the object