I'm sure you've
used words like 'much', 'many' and 'some' in your daily conversations and in
your writing. These words are quantifiers. They are words or phrases that modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much of
something we are talking
about.
You will also find
questions on quantifiers in the Grammar MCQ section, the Grammar Cloze section and
the Editing section of the PSLE English Paper 2.
Let’s say you see a
crowd outside a concert hall at where a K-Pop concert is being held. You might remark
to your friend, "Look! There are so many people watching the K-Pop concert!"
Or you might have
heard someone say this, "Please add a little sugar to my coffee."
These sentences
have quantifiers in them.
‘Many’ modifies the
noun ‘people’. It gives us an idea of the number of people at the concert hall.
We might not know
the specific number but we will have a general idea.
‘A little’ gives us
an idea of how much sugar is needed for the coffee. It is not a specific amount
like
‘5 grams’ but we
will have a general idea of how much sugar is needed in the coffee.
Ann and Bob have
used several quantifiers in their dialogue.
‘A few’, ‘two’, ‘a
little’, ‘much’, ‘some’ and ‘much’ are used by Ann and Bob in their dialogue.
We use different
quantifiers for countable and uncountable nouns.
Before we go on,
let's do a quick review of countable and uncountable nouns.
Countable nouns are nouns that can be
counted. There can be
singular (one) or plural (many) of countable nouns.
Some examples are:
book/books, pencil/pencils, parcel/parcels, fairy/fairies
Uncountable nouns are nouns that
cannot be counted. Except for ‘measles’
and ‘mathematics’, we usually do not put 's' at the end of uncountable nouns.
Some examples are:
air, sand, sugar, water, cheese, jewellery, work, time, effort, advice,
evidence and health.
Click here to learn
more about countable and uncountable nouns. (TBD)
Quantifiers that are used with
countable nouns answer the question 'how many'.
How many books do
you have?
I have two books.
I have a few books.
I have many books.
I have plenty of books.
I have a lot of books. / I have lots of books.
I do not have many books. (This
is a negative sentence. We use ‘not’ to form negative sentences.)
Click her to learn
more about negative sentences. (TBD)
Quantifiers that are used with
uncountable nouns answer the question 'how much'.
How much water do
you have?
I have a little water.
I have a lot of water. / I have lots of water.
I have plenty of water.
I do not have much water. (This is a
negative sentence. ‘Much’ is usually used in negative sentences.)
What do you notice
about the quantifiers above?
‘A lot of’ and ‘lots of’ can be used
for both countable and uncountable nouns.
We can use 'all' for both countable
and uncountable nouns.
All the furniture is in the warehouse.
All the dresses are expensive.
We can only use 'both' for countable
nouns.
Both the boys are my brothers.
What about 'every' and
'each'?
When we use 'every'
and 'each', we are referring to the individuals within a group. We still mean
the whole group, much like if we use the word 'all' but this time we are
emphasising the individuals in the group.
‘Every’ is usually
used to refer to a larger group than 'each'.
We can use 'each'
to refer to both members in a pair.
Each of the twin enjoys English class.
We do not say, ‘Every
of the twins'.
Each child receives a survey form.
Every child receives a survey form.
Notice that 'each'
and 'every' are followed by singular forms of the verb.
'All' is followed
by the plural form of the verb.
Click HERE for a
more information on subject verb agreement.
‘Much’ and 'enough' are often used in
negative sentences.
I do not have much time.
I do not have enough time.
I do not have much water.
What about the
words 'some' or 'any'?
When we ask 'how
many' questions, 'some' or 'any' are usually not used to answer such
questions.
Instead we can
use 'some' or 'any' to ask questions.
Do you want some
tea?
Is there any
sugar left in the jar?
|
We also use 'some'
when it is not important to state the exact number or how great or small
something is.
Some people were disqualified from the contest.
There is some bread in the bread
container.
‘Some’ can be used with both
countable and uncountable nouns.
What about 'any'?
It is usually used
in negative statements.
There aren't any eggs left.
There isn't any milk left.
Notice that 'any'
can be used with countable and uncountable nouns but the plural form is used
with countable nouns.
There aren't any eggs left.
Are there any eggs left?
There haven't been many participants for the
most recent art contest.
Have there been many participants for the
recent art contest?
There isn't any milk left.
Is there any milk left?
There isn't any ink in the pen.
Is there any ink in the pen?
If you use 'not...any' in a sentence,
you do not need to use 'no'.
There weren't any taxis on the road in the morning.
There were no taxis on the road in the
morning.
Quantifiers that
have the word 'of'.
a lot of couple
of dozens of majority of
number of amount of
Use ‘the amount of’
with uncountable nouns.
The amount of milk in the carton
is hardly enough to make a glass of milkshake.
There is still a
sufficient amount of time left to prepare for the competition.
The amount of effort you put into
your work is inadequate to prepare you for the examination.
One type of quantifier
that you have probably been using for a long time is numbers.
'One, two, three...
'are also quantifiers.
She ate two apples before dinner.
We bought one kilogram of tomatoes.
We can also use
certain expressions to show how many of something exists.
one at a time, one by one, by the
dozen, in tens, in hundreds, three and a half, two thirds, twice as much, half
as many
We can also compare quantities of two
or more nouns.
Fewer road accidents occurred this year than last year.
This car consumes less petrol than the
other one but the motorcycle consumes the last petrol of all the three
vehicles.
My sister has more shoes than I do.
There is more water in the jug
than the cup.
‘More’ can be used for both countable
and uncountable nouns.
The words 'another' and 'the other'
are also quantifiers.
'Another' does not
refer to anything specific.
I want another cup of tea.
Please get another chair.
'The other' refers
to something specific.
I do not like this
dress. I want the other one.
This restaurant has
better service than the other restaurant.
We can use 'others' instead of 'the
other' to refer to more than one noun.
Some of the
students will be in the auditorium but the others will be in the field.
Errors to avoid
1. Many people often
use 'less' to describe people in their daily conversations. This is incorrect.
Remember that
'less' is used with uncountable nouns but people can be counted.
There are less
fewer people in the boutique than in the toy shop.
2. 'Lesser' is
usually used in special phrases like 'lesser of two evils' or ‘lesser known’.
If you want to compare two quantities, use 'less'.
I have lesser
less time to play video games on weekdays than on weekends.
Here is a summary of
the types of quantifiers to use for countable and uncountable nouns.
Quantifiers Used
Only with Countable Nouns
|
Quantifiers Used
Only with Uncountable Nouns
|
a few
several
many
a number of
a large number of
a great number of
the least number
of
both
each / every
numerals such as ‘one’,
‘two’, etc.
a couple of
dozens of /
hundreds of
the majority of
|
a little
less
much
a bit of
a great deal of
the amount of
the least amount
of
|
Quantifiers Used with Both
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
|
|
no
none
some
any
all
enough
a lot of / lots
of
plenty of
more / most
|
|
Let's Practise
Circle the number
of the correct answer.
1. The twins put in so _______ effort to train for
the diving competition but they did not manage to win a medal.
(1) many
(2) much
(3) little
(4) several
2. The survivors of the tsunami will appreciate _______
help they can get.
(1) any
(2) none
(3) some
(4) both
3. We will not have _______ time to prepare for the
art project if we do not start work soon.
(1) little
(2) some
(3) much
(4) many
4. The children had _______ fun riding the roller
coaster at the theme park.
(1) a large number of
(2) dozens of
(3) a few
(4) a great deal of
5. We had _______ trouble getting a taxi during
peak hour yesterday.
(1) a bit of
(2) several
(3) many
(4) a few
6. _______ the jewellery in the display case is
made of white gold.
(1) All
(2) Both
(3) A few of
(4) A number of
7. The police did not find _______ evidence at the crime scene and were unable to
solve the case.
(1) many
(2) several
(3) much
(4) little
8. Only _______ time is needed every weekend if you
want to volunteer at the home for the elderly.
(1) a few
(2) many
(3) a little
(4) more
9. _______ used paper collected from the residents
was sold to a recycling company.
(1) The amount of
(2) The number of
(3) The majority of
(4) Dozens of
10. Would you like _______ milk to go with your
tea?
(1) a few
(2) several
(3) all
(4) some
Answers:
1. 2
2. 1
3. 3
4. 4
5. 1
6. 1
7. 3
8. 3
9. 1
10. 4
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