Jose Carillo's English Forum

English Grammar and Usage Problems => Use and Misuse => Topic started by: Michael E. Galario on August 15, 2016, 10:05:36 AM

Title: Determiner Usage
Post by: Michael E. Galario on August 15, 2016, 10:05:36 AM

Hi Sir Joe,

I was randomly reading posts on Facebook the other day and one of the posts by a Facebook user caught my attention. The post runs like this: "You are a one stupid idiot." This line, although it was not addressed to me, got stuck in my grey matter and I can't help but ask you about the structure of the statement for clarification as it has started bothering me since then. lol! ☺

Question: Can the use of the indefinite article "a" before "one" in the statement above be justified as correct or is that a faultily crafted sentence? Reason why I'm asking is that I could hardly recall the topic about determiners and its classification according to their position: pre - determiner, central determiner and post - determiner.

Thank you sir Joe.
 

Title: Re: Determiner Usage
Post by: Joe Carillo on August 20, 2016, 09:30:51 AM

The sentence "You are a one stupid idiot" is grammatically and syntactically indefensible. The article "a" has to be knocked off: "You are one stupid idiot" (emphatic construction). The normal construction, of course, is "You are a stupid idiot."

Check out my previous Forum post, "Predeterminers are distinct from determiners," (http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6296.0) for guidance on the usage of the various types of determiners.