Quantifiers

S1 Grammar
ENS UAE
2023-24
• Like articles, quantifiers belong to the wider class of ‘determiners’: words
or phrases that come at the beginning of a noun phrase

• Some of these words signal whether the information is new or familiar

(Articles)

• Others tell us something about quantity (how many? or how much).

• As their name implies, the linguistic function of quantifiers is to tell us the

quantity of what we are talking about.

• They are words like: all, another, any, some, both, either/neither, each,
every, few/fewer/ a few, enough, little/ less/ a little, many, more, much
Parts of speech
All wine contains alcohol.

Nature: quantifier

Function: determiner (it is used to determine, to say

something specific about the noun been determined by
the quantifier, it is not ‘some’ but ‘all’.)
We can use a noun phrase in a variety of sentence positions.

-All wine contains alcohol.

-They earn a lot of money.
-They invited several people from their neighbourhood.
-John read each copy with a lot of interest.
-She a little dizzy this morning.
SOME AND ANY
1-SOME

a-unstressed some:

When some is unstressed, it is pronounced less loudly and less

clearly than the words around it in the sentence.

The meaning of this unstressed form is different from the

stressed one.
We use the unstressed some:
-To suggest an indefinite (imprecise) quantity but not a large
amount.
I gave him some bread
-To introduce new information
He’s got some money.
‘Some’ is generally used before plural countable and
uncountable nouns, usually in affirmative sentences.

Offers and request

The unstressed ‘some’ is used with offers and requests.

We can use some in offers even though the sentence is a

question.
1-Offers
Would you like some custard?
(we can also say: Would you like any custard?)

2-Request:
In requests, we have to use ‘some’:
Could I have some sugar, please?
*Could I have any sugar, please?
b- Some (stressed)

When we stress ‘some’, in Southern British English, the vowel

/Ʌ/ is used ( e.g. sum)

-Stressed ‘some’ can suggest a restricted or limited quantity or

type of something:

I like SOME music. (by no means all. Classical music,

rock music, pop music…)
We use stressed ‘some’ in questions and negative sentences as
well as affirmative sentences:

I can’t eat SOME type of fish. (sardines, shrimps…)

We also use the stressed ‘some’ to emphasise that precise

identity is irrelevant. In this case it is often followed by a
singular noun.

I spoke to SOME idiot in your office.

ANY

Before plural (countable) or uncountable nouns:

We use ‘any’ in questions to ask about the existence of

something (quantity is unimportant).

Do you know any good restaurants in your area?

Do they have any water left?
Unstressed ANY

We use ‘any’ after negative forms of the verb to indicate the

non-existence of something (again quantity is unimportant).

I won’t give them any books.

They won’t give us any help.
‘Any’ is used as the negative alternative of ‘some’.
However, we can use ‘no’ instead of ‘not…any’ as an alternative
for ‘some’:
He has no interest in education.
Or He doesn’t have any interest in education.
We tend to prefer ‘no’ to ‘not…any’ in formal and written English,
and we have to use ‘no’ as the subject of a verb.

No students offered to help with the cleaning

(* Not any students helped…)
Stressed ANY
‘Any’ with the meaning of unrestricted or unlimited quantity.
Stressed ‘any’ suggests an unrestricted quantity or unlimited choice.
I don’t like ANY type of meat. (I think all meat is horrible).
You can take ANY book. (the choice is entirely open)
You can’t take ANY book. (the choice is not open, it is limited)
Can I take ANY book? (I’m asking whether the choice is open)
When we use ‘any’ as part of the subject of a clause, it suggests
unrestrictedness (the particular identity is unimportant):
Any music would be better than this horrible noise!
Exercise
Exercise
Exercise
MUCH, MANY, A LOT OF
They are used to suggest a large quantity. This is their
meaning:

Do you need much space?

I’ve lived here for many years.
A lot of soft drinks contain sugar substitute.
We use:
‘much’ with uncountable nouns (much effort, much
help, much money, much information)
‘many’ with countable nouns (many countries, many
students…).

‘much’ and ‘many’ can also be used in affirmative sentences.

‘Many’ is used to increase the implication of ‘some’:
Compare:

There are some who would disagree.

With:

a-There are many who would disagree.

b-There are a few who would disagree.

Uncountable:

Do they have much money? (question)

They haven’t got much time.

Plural (countable):

Do you have many things to do?

There weren’t many houses left standing.
‘A lot of’ is neutral. It can be used in affirmative
sentences with both countable and uncountable nouns:
Plural (countable):
There are a lot of people outside.
Uncountable:
They have a lot of charm/money/ information.
‘Much’ and ‘many’ after ‘so’, ‘too’ and ‘how’

They’ve got so many parks (countable noun)

You’re wasting too much time and money.
Tell me how many people have arrived.
‘Much’ and ‘many’ can also be used in affirmative sentences.

Many people arrived early.

We can use ‘many’ in a noun phrase which is the object of an

affirmative clause, particularly in formal and written English:

She felt many emotions

They raised many doubts
We use ‘much’ in affirmative sentences, generally only in very
formal written language:

There has been much research into universals in the

effective group behaviour of students.

We use ‘a lot of’ in questions and in negative statements to

give extra emphasis to the amount:

Do they have a lot of friends?

I don’t have a lot of time.
SEVERAL, A FEW/ FEW, A LITTLE/ LITTLE
They are used to suggest small quantity.

They have the opposite meaning of the three quantifiers above

(much, many and a lot of/ lots of).

‘Several’ implies more items than ‘a few’.

I’ve sent out several cards but I’ve only received a few
confirmations.
‘Several’ and ‘a few’ are used with countable nouns (plural).

There are several/ a few people waiting.

Just give him a little attention. (uncountable)

We tend to use these quantifiers in affirmative statements and

questions rather than in negative statements.
Exercise
Fill in the blanks with suitable quantifiers from the following list:
little, few, a few, very few, every, any, each, many, some

1- The professor lectured very clearly. As a result,……. students had questions at the end of
the class period.
2- Do you have……….. minutes? I’d like to ask you…………questions. I
need…………more information.
3- Fatima has become a very fluent English speaker. She makes…………mistakes when she
talks in English now.
4- I won’t just eat…………..food—only nicely cooked food.
5- Very…………..people could manage to live on so …………money.
6- I’d like to give you ……………advice.
7- He gave ………….of the children a small gift.
8- I see Jack at work almost…………… day.
FEW and LITTLE
We use ‘few’ and ‘little’ (without a) to suggest a strong sense of reservation, with a
hint of not enough.

Few people came. (almost no one came)

He had little success ( his success is almost nil, he almost has no success).

The more informal equivalent of the sentences above would be:

Not many people came. He didn’t have much success

So you can see that ‘few’ is more formal than ‘not many’. And ‘little’ sounds more
formal than ‘much’ in the second sentence.
More, fewer and less
They are comparative forms which correspond to ‘a lot of/many/much; a few and
a little’.

MORE is used with both countable nouns (plural) and uncountable ones.
There are more smokers in third world countries than in developed ones.
FEWER is used with plural countable nouns.
Fewer and fewer school leavers want to study classics.
LESS is generally used with uncountable nouns.
Less and less people are using bikes these days.
The number of people using bikes is less than those using cars.
Exercise
Choose the correct answer from the following to fill in the blanks: Little; a little; few
a few
1. He has had ______ drinks but he is not drunk.
2. You won't change her mind so there is ______ use in trying.
3. Michael Cane was born in South London, not the East End. ______ people know that.
4. I need ______ help. I'm a bit stuck.
5. Will you have ______ strawberries? They're very good.
6. Will you have ______ more ice-cream? We might as well finish it.
7. There's ______ point in continuing. We're all too tired.
8. I don't know if we can fit the cupboard into our house. There's ______ space as it is.
9. All this kitten needs is ______ love and attention.
10. There's ______ I can do about this. It's outside my control.
11. Martin is a good student. He has ______ problems with English.
12. Generally Peter is good but sometimes he has ______ problems.
13. We made good time because there was ______ traffic on the road so early in the
morning.
14. I think Coventry will win the match but ______ people agree with me.
15. I'm going to give you ______ advice. Study harder!
ALL, EACH and EVERY
They are used to emphasise the completeness of a group or class of things.

We’ve considered all options

All wine contains alcohol.
Every day was the same.
They defused each bomb.

‘Each’ and ‘every’ are interchangeable when they refer to three or more of something:

They checked each/every table before the guests arrived.

‘All’ and ‘Whole’
Exercise
Exercise
We use ‘every’ to refer to frequency and times.

Every day every minute every time the phone rings

We also tend to use ‘every’ for large numbers.

She had to greet every person in the room.

When we have two things, (two items), we refer to them by using the quantifier
‘each’. To refer to two things:

Did you examine each side of the coin? (NOT *every side of the coin)

Each candidate will be individually interviewed

Every--------------------------------------------------
Where they differ is that ‘each’ is more targeted on the individual among the
totality.

‘every’ is more targeted on the totality itself.

In consequence, every is subject to quantitative modification as in:

Almost every candidate was over the age of twenty five.

All: Unlike most quantifiers, ‘all’ can immediately precede ‘the’ or a possessive
pronoun (adjective).
BOTH, EITHER and NEITHER
We uses these to refer to two people or things.
They examined both sides
They made no attempt to rescue either dog.
They were able to make contact with neither parent.
1-‘Both’ looks at things from a collective view (this one and this one).
She betrayed both parents.

2-‘Either’ looks at things from the point of view of alternatives (this one or this
one).
You can choose either option.
‘Both’ is followed by a plural noun (both sides).

‘either’ and ‘neither’ by singular nouns and verbs. (either dog is…; neither parent has…).

We use ‘either’ in questions and negative statements.

‘Neither’ is in itself negative (neither = not either).

We use ‘neither’ is formal and written English.

In informal contexts, we often prefer ‘not…either’

they didn’t like either film (informal/neutral)

They liked neither film. (formal).

Unlike most quantifiers, ‘both’ can immediately precede ‘the’ or a possessive adjective (both the
children; both my parents).
Examples
• Either candidate would be ideal for the job.

• "Do you prefer chicken or beef?" "I don't like either.“

• "Would you like the metal or plastic one?" "Either will do."
• We've got two TVs, but neither works properly.

• Neither of my parents likes my boyfriend. (Pre-determiner)

• Neither one of us is interested in gardening.

• "Which one would you choose?" "Neither. They're both terrible."

ENOUGH

We use ‘enough’ to indicate and emphasise that quantity is sufficient for some
purpose.

You haven’t had enough lessons.

Did you find enough books?

It can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Mary has seen enough hospitals to know. (plural, countable)

Are you getting enough help? (uncountable)
ANOTHER
We use ‘another’ to emphasise that something additional to an existing number or
quantity. It is used with countable nouns. Nouns which takes a plural inflections:

They will have another party.

It is used with singular nouns and with numbers followed by plural nouns.

Have another drink.

I’ve got another three days.
In can also be used as a pronoun not a determiner in the sentence:

There have been many fires in the city recently.

Another was reported yesterday.
Several were reported yesterday.
Using quantifiers with other determiners

We generally don’t use quantifiers immediately before or after other

determiners.

However, ‘all’ and ‘both’ can immediately precede ‘the’ (comes before
‘the’ in the sentence) or a possessive pronoun (and this case they are
known as pre-determiners).

All his students came.

They welcomed both the speakers
We can combine the following quantifiers:

• Every + few I travel every few weeks.

• A few + more/less He needed a few more votes.
• A little + more/less I received a little more/ less money.
• Few/little + enough We get few enough treats.
We can also link all the words and expressions apart from ‘every’ and ‘no’ to nouns
and pronouns by using ‘of the’ or ‘of + possessive adjective’. In this case, the words
are classed as pronouns rather than quantifiers:

• Of + the + noun Give it to either of the children.

• Of + pronoun I didn’t understand much of it.
• Of + possessive pronoun/adjective + noun Many of our friends came.