Noun phrases with the predeterminers bare al, alle + Num/allebei, or simplex alle/beide all occur in argument positions, and there are no restrictions on the argument functions these phrases can have. Table 8 summarizes the distribution of the relevant noun phrases.

The examples in (82) illustrate the contexts in which the forms listed in the table can be inserted; note that, contrary to our usual convention, the parentheses around the article do not indicate that de is optional: it is obligatory with bare al, alle + Num, and allebei, but it cannot be realized with alle and beide. In the (a)-examples in (82), we are dealing with subjects; in the first example, the bracketed phrase is an underlying subject, and in the second (passive) example, it is a derived one. Examples (82b&c) illustrate the use of this phrase as a direct and indirect object, respectively, and (82d) illustrates its use as the object of a preposition.

The distribution of al and its alternants within predicative noun phrases is rather limited. It seems that nominal predicates containing a form of al are more or less restricted to identificational copular constructions with the singular demonstrative dit/datthis/that or the singular neuter personal pronoun hetit as subject. Note that replacing the demonstrative in the primeless examples in (83) with the plural referential personal pronoun zijthey, which is expected to be acceptable since it agrees in number with the predicative noun phrase, systematically leads to more degraded results. This is shown by the primed examples. Example (83b) shows that even with the demonstrative pronoun as the subject of the copular construction, it is difficult to construct pragmatically felicitous examples for allebei. This probably has nothing to do with syntax, since noun phrases quantified by the otherwise identical quantifier alle + Num can be used as predicates; moreover, replacing allebei with alle twee also leads to a marked result.

Two points need to be made about (83c&c') with beide. First, these examples show that beide is impossible as a quantifier of a predicate nominal. Instead, de beide must be used in such contexts: Dat/??Zij zijn de beide beurspromovendi van onze vakgroep. This shows that, in contrast to what is the case in the templates in (82), beide and de beide do not alternate freely when they are understood as quantifiers of a predicative noun phrase. Second, example (83c) with beide should not be confused with (84), in which beiden is construed as a floating quantifier of the pronominal subject.

The two examples differ in their intonation pattern: while beide beurspromovendi in (83c) forms a single intonation phrase, beiden in (84) is followed by a brief break. Also, since the associate of the floating quantifier is [+human], the rules of orthography demand that an -n be added to beide in (84); cf. the introduction to Section 21.1.4.

The distribution of al phrases in adjunct positions is limited to phrases that function as temporal modifiers. In the case of bare al, the adverbial phrases in question can be headed by the singular noun tijdtime (85a) or by the plural nouns shown in (85b). The preferred determiner is the distal demonstrative die; the proximate demonstrative deze and the definite article de also occur but sound marked, although the article is quite common when the noun phrase is modified by e.g. a relative clause, as in al de keren dat hij hier wasall the times that he was here; cf. Section 17.3.2.2, sub V, for the use of the singular relative pronoun dat in this example instead of the plural relative pronoun die.

For the other forms, only the plural nouns in (85b) are possible, if any. The acceptability of adjunct construal varies considerably from case to case; simplex alle in (86b) is fine with all the plural nouns listed, but other alternants choose only one or two. In (86a) the determiner is usually also the distal demonstrative die, although proper contextualization may make alle twee/allebei de keren felicitous.

The examples in (87) show that although alle can be combined with the singular noun tijd in the high-degree reading “lots of time” (cf. 21.1.1, sub III), it cannot be construed with tijd to form a temporal adjunct. To express what the English translation of (87b) expresses, Dutch resorts to al die tijd in (85b) or alternatively heel de/die tijd or de/die hele tijdthe whole time; cf. Section 21.2.