Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

882 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
It seems that sequences consisting of a numeral and a singular noun are normally
not preceded by a determiner, unless the noun phrase is modified and/or strongly
°D-linked. Note that these cases differ from the ones in (34) in that they trigger
plural agreement on the finite verb when the noun phrase functions as subject, as in
the (b)-examples.
(35) a. Pff, die drie keer dat hij drugs gebruikt heeft.
well, that three time that he drugs used has
‘Phff, those three times that he has used drugs.’
a′. De drie keer dat ik daar geweest ben, was het erg stil.
the three time that I there been am, was it very quiet
‘It was very quiet the three times that I have been there.’
b. Die vier man daar zijn genoeg om die tafel op te tillen.
those four man over there are enough in.order.to that table prt. to lift
‘Those four persons suffice to lift that table.’
b′. De vier man, die de tafel op getild hadden, kregen een biertje.
the four man, who the table prt.-lifted had, received a beer
‘The four men, who had lifted the table, were given a beer.’
6.1.1.3.2. The determiner
There do not seem to be many special restrictions on the determiner preceding the
cardinal numeral. As is shown in (36a-c), definite articles, demonstratives and
possessive pronouns all give rise to an equally acceptable result. When the noun
phrase is indefinite, as in (36d), we can perhaps postulate the empty indefinite
article ∅, just as in the case of other plural indefinite noun phrases.
(36) a. de vier boeken over taalkunde
the four books about linguistics
b. die vier boeken over taalkunde
those four books about linguistics
c. mijn vier boeken over taalkunde
my four books about linguistics
d. ∅ vier boeken over taalkunde
∅ four books about linguistics
The indefinite article een ‘a’ cannot be combined with a numeral, which is of
course related to the fact that noun phrases containing this article are inherently
singular: adding the numeral één ‘one’ is therefore redundant, and adding some
other numeral leads to a contradiction. In the next section, we will see that the
complex demonstrative zo’n ‘such a’, which is the result of contraction of zo and
een, cannot be followed by a numeral either.
(37) *een één/vier boek over taalkunde
a one/four book about linguistics
Example (38a) shows that the cardinal numeral één ‘one’ is special in that it can
never be preceded by the definite article de/het, or a demonstrative or possessive
pronoun. It is, however, generally assumed that the numeral één may appear after a