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Course Language - English - Quantifiers

Explanation and exercises of English Quantifiers

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Sir Pedro
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11 views

Course Language - English - Quantifiers

Explanation and exercises of English Quantifiers

Uploaded by

Sir Pedro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Quantifiers

Like articles, quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how
much. Selecting the correct quantifier depends on your understanding the distinction
between count and non count nouns.

The following quantifiers will work with count nouns:


many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees

The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:


not much dancing
a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing
a great deal of dancing
no dancing
The following quantifiers will work with both count and non-count nouns:
all of the trees/dancing
some trees/dancing
most of the trees/dancing
enough trees/dancing
a lot of trees/dancing
lots of trees/dancing
plenty of trees/dancing
a lack of trees/dancing

In formal academic writing, it is usually better to use many and much rather than phrases such as a
lot of, lots of and plenty of.

There is an important difference between "a little" and "little" (used with non-count words) and
between "a few" and "few" (used with count words). If I say that Tashonda has a little
experience in management that means that although Tashonda is no great expert she does have
some experience and that experience might well be enough for our purposes. If I say that
Tashonda has little experience in management that means that she doesn't have enough
experience. If I say that Charlie owns a few books on Latin American literature that means that he
has some some books — not a lot of books, but probably enough for our purposes. If I say that
Charlie owns few books on Latin American literature, that means he doesn't have enough for our
purposes and we'd better go to the library.
Unless it is combined with of, the quantifier "much" is reserved for questions and negative
statements:

Much of the snow has already melted.


How much snow fell yesterday?
Not much.

Note that the quantifier "most of the" must include the definite article the when it modifies a
specific noun, whether it's a count or a non-count noun: "most of the instructors at this college
have a doctorate"; "most of the water has evaporated." With a general plural noun, however
(when you are not referring to a specific entity), the "of the" is dropped:

Most colleges have their own admissions policy.


Most students apply to several colleges.

An indefinite article is sometimes used in conjunction with the quantifier many, thus joining a
plural quantifier with a singular noun (which then takes a singular verb):

Many a young man has fallen in love with her golden hair.
Many an apple has fallen by October.

This construction lends itself to a somewhat literary effect (some would say a stuffy or archaic
effect) and is best used sparingly, if at all.

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