Understanding Quantifiers for Countable and Uncountable Nouns

QUANTIFIERS MARKOVIC ANA RASTODER ELIDA RADUSINOVIC SANJA

Quantifiers Countable nouns Countable nouns Every, each, all each/every Each/every book cost $10. all All the books were quite cheap. All the furniture were quite cheap. Most most Most books were quite expensive. Most of the furniture were quite cheap. Many, much, a great deal of, a lot of, lots of, loads of, plenty of many Have you got many books? I haven t got many books. a lot of, lots of, loads of, plenty of I ve got a lot of/lots of/loads of/plenty of books. Much/a great deal of Have you got much/a great deal of furniture? I haven t got much/a great deal of furniture. a lot of, lots of, loads of, plenty of I ve got a lot of/lots of/loads of/plenty of furniture whole whole I ve read the whole book. A number of, several, a few, a couple of, a little, some a number of, several, a few, a couple of I ve got a number of/ several/ a few/ a couple of books. some I ve got some books. a little I ve got a little furniture. I ve got some furniture.

quantifiers Countable nouns Uncountable nouns Few, little few I ve got few books. little I ve got little furniture. Both both Both these books are mine. Neither neither Neither book was expensive. Either either You can buy either book. No, none of no I ve got no books. none of None of the books belongs to me. I ve got no furniture. None of the furniture belongs to me.

NOTE: A FEW and A LITTLE have a similar meaning to some. *We are staying in London for a few days. BUT FEW and LITTLE mean not as many or as much as we d like *Unfortunately, there is little hope of success. The following quantifiers are always used with the preposition OF: *a number of, a couple of, a great deal of, a lot of, lots of, loads of, plenty of, none of These quantifiers are used particularly with abstract nouns such as time, money and trouble: *a great deal of a good deal of *It will probably cost a great deal of money. *He spent a good deal of time watching television.

NOTE: All other quantifiers (except no and every)can be used with the preposition OF, if it is followed by a personal pronoun, a pronoun (possessive or demonstrative)+noun/definite article the *Most shops/most of the shops were open. *John spent most of his life on the farm. Few snakes are dangerous. Most children like chocolate. I never have enough money. *A few of us took a taxi home. Members of groups *We put a noun directly after a quantifier when we are talking about members of a group in general: Few of the snakes in this zoo are dangerous. Most of the boys at my school play football. Both (of) the chairs in my office are broken. *but if we are talking about members of a specific group, we use of the as well: Note: with ALL and BOTH, we don t need to use OF. We can say ALL THE and BOTH THE

NOTE: BOTH, EITHER AND NEITHER *If we are talking about two people or things, we use the quantifiers both, either and neither: *Note that nouns with BOTH have a plural verb, but nouns with EITHER and NEITHER have a singular verb. -Both the supermarkets were closed. -Neither of the supermarkets was open. -I don t think either of the supermarkets was open. We use the quantifiers EVERY and EACH with singular nouns to mean ALL: *There was a party in every street. (= There were parties in all the streets.) *Every shop was decorated with flowers. (= All the shops were decorated with flowers.) *Each child was given a prize. (= All the children were given a prize.) *There was a prize in each competition. (= There were prizes in all the competitions.)

EXERCISES: Choose the correct options. Sometimes more than one option is correct. 1Every / All / Each of the people who want to go into space will have to undergo some medical tests. 2 As much / a lot of / many as 1,000 actors will be needed to make the film in our city. 3 I need some advice on how to sell loads / a great deal / plenty of e-books on Amazon. 4 I m sure that several / lots / a number of students in my class are going to the concert. 5 No / None of / Neither of the people I know enjoy doing housework. 6 What does this word mean? No / Neither of /None of my two dictionaries explains it. 7 Loads / Lot / A great deal of volunteers are still needed for the summer festival. 8 A number of / Several / A great deal of people have called Ann and congratulated her on her marriage. 9 I m really proud of each of / all / every the students who graduated this year. 10 We can t pay you much / many / lot more than seven pounds an hour for your work. Quizes links: https://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/quantifiers/qf014-quanitifiers.htm https://test-english.com/grammar-points/b1-b2/quantifiers/