Quantifiers / Determiners

Usage of quantifiers / determiners:

A few and few, a little and little
Graded Quantifiers
Some or Any?
Something, Anything, Someone, Anyone etc.
Enough
A few and few, a little and little
These expressions show the speakers attitude towards the !uantity he"she is referring to.
Little is used with uncountable nouns#
There is little water left, so drink only what you must.
$ ha%e little reason to think they will help.
Few is used with plural nouns#
There are few men who are capa&le of doing it.
$ know few places that $ could recommend to you.
'sed in this way, little and few ha%e somewhat negative meanings#
$ ha%e little reason to think they will help ( $ would like to ha%e more reason, &ut unfortunately $ ha%ent.
$ know few places that $ could recommend to you ( $ would like to &e a&le to recommend more places, &ut
unfortunately there arent more.
Few people %isited him in hospital )( he had almost no %isitors*
+e had little money )( almost no money*
'sed in this way, little and few are also !uite formal. ,e can say the same thing in a less formal way &y
using not much and not man#
$ don!t ha%e much reason to think they will help.
$ don!t know man places that $ could recommend to you.
,hen we use the indefinite article a &efore little and few, it has a more positive meaning, similar to some#
,e%e got a little &read ( ,e%e got some &read.
,e%e got a few &iscuits ( ,e%e got some &iscuits.
-efore a pronoun or a determiner, "a# little of and "a# few of are used#
Take a little of this and a little of that.
Sorry, &ut we only ha%e a little of it.
Take a few of these and a few of those.
Sorry, &ut we only ha%e a few of them.

A few )for counta&le nouns* and a little )for uncounta&le nouns* descri&e the !uantity in a positive way#
.$%e got a few friends. )( may&e not many, &ut enough*
.$%e got a little money. )( $%e got enough to li%e on*
/
$raded Quantifiers
They are li%e comparatives and hold a relati%e position on a scale of increase or decrease.
&'()*A+* ",- to .,,-#
,ith plural counta&le nouns#
man more most
,ith uncounta&le nouns#
much more most
D*()*A+* ".,,- to ,-#
,ith plural counta&le nouns#
few fewer fewest
,ith uncounta&le nouns#
little less least
*/amples:
There are man people in 0oland, more in $ndia, &ut the most people li%e in 1hina.
0uch time and money is spent on education, more on health ser%ices &ut the most is spent on national
defense.
Few ri%ers in Europe aren2t polluted.
Fewer people die young now than in the nineteenth century.
The country with the fewest people per s!uare kilometre must &e Australia.
Scientists ha%e little hope of finding a complete cure for cancer &efore 34/4.
She had less time to study than $ did &ut had &etter results.
Gi%e that dog the least opportunity and it will &ite you.
Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns
Some ad5ecti%es and ad5ecti%al phrases can only go with uncounta&le nouns )salt, rice, money, ad%ice*, and
some can only go with counta&le nouns )friends, &ags, people*. The words in the middle column can &e used
with &oth counta&le and uncounta&le nouns.

1ith Uncountable 'ouns 1ith 2oth 1ith (ountable 'ouns
+ow much? +ow much? or +ow many? +ow many?
a little no"none a few
a &it )of* not any a num&er )of*
some )any* se%eral
a great deal of a lot of a large num&er of
a large amount of plenty of a great num&er of
a large !uantity of lots of a ma5ority of
'ote: much and man are used in negati%e and !uestion forms.
3
*/ample:
3ow much money ha%e you got?
3ow man cigarettes ha%e you smoked?
Theres not much sugar in the cup&oard.
There weren!t man people at the party.
They are also used with too, "not# so, and "not# as
There were too man people at the party.
$ts a pro&lem when there are so man people.
Theres not so much work to do this week.
$n positi%e statements, we use a lot of#
$%e got a lot of work this week.
There were a lot of people at the concert.
4est
6 ,hat word do you need to complete the sentence? Few " a few " little " a little ?
/. 777777 learning is a dangerous thing. )a little*
3. $%e had 777777 drinks &ut $m not drunk. )a few*
8. 9ou wont change her mind so there is 777777 use in trying. )little*
:. ;ichael 1ane was &orn in South <ondon, not the East End. 777777 people know that. )few*
=. $ need 777777 help. $m a &it stuck. )a little*
>. There werent many people there. ?ust 777777. )a few*
@. ,ill you ha%e 777777 straw&erries? Theyre %ery good. )a few*
A. ,ill you ha%e 777777 more ice6cream? ,e might as well finish it. )a little*
B. Theres 777777 point in continuing. ,ere all too tired. )little*
/4. 1ould you spare me 777777 minutes? )a few*
//. $ dont know if we can fit the cup&oard into our house. Theres 777777 space as it is. )little*
/3. All this kitten needs is 777777 lo%e and attention. )a little*
/8. Theres 777777 $ can do a&out this. $ts outside my control. )little*
/:. ;artin is a good student. +e has 777777 pro&lems with English. )few*
/=. Generally 0eter is good &ut sometimes he has 777777 pro&lems. )a few*
/>. $ need to &orrow 777777 dollars. 1an you help me out? )a few*
/@. ,e made good time &ecause there was 777777 traffic on the road so early in the morning. )little*
/A. $ think 1o%entry will win the match &ut 777777 people agree with me. )few*
/B. $ can only speak 777777 words of 1hinese. )a few*
34. $m going to gi%e you 777777 ad%ice. Study harderC )a little*
6 $n the following sentences, fill in the gaps with one of the following !uantifiers#
A F*1 5 A $)*A4 D*AL 5 A L&44L* 5 A L64 5 A L64 6F 5 A 0A76)&48 6F 5 *'6U$3 5 0A'8 5 0U(3 6F 5
9L*'48 5 +*:*)AL 6F 5 +60*
/. $m ha%ing 7777777 of trou&le passing my dri%ing exam. [a lot]
3. 7777777 the mo%ies were rated 0G. [several of]
8. 7777777 information pro%ed to &e outdated. DsomeE
:. ,ere close to the pro5ect deadline, &ut there is still 7777777 time left. Da littleE
=. Although there are 7777777 &rilliant students in this state 66 thousands, e%en, only 7777777 will choose to
remain in the state after graduation. Dmany " a fewE
>. ,e were a&le to destroy 7777777 the parasites with our antigen, &ut 7777777 of them sur%i%ed to cause
trou&le. Da ma5ority of " enoughE
@. 7777777 a student has passed through these doors. D;anyE
A. Although 7777777 of the lawn is open to the sun, there are 7777777 of shade trees to make it comforta&le. DA
great deal of " plentyE
B. $ think he drank 7777777 wine last night. Da lot ofE
/4. 7777777 the e%idence was taken from the police safe last night. D;uch ofE
8
6 1hoose the correct answers in the following dialogue#
(3)&+: +iC ,hat are you up to?
9*4*: Fh $m 5ust looking for 7777777 anti!ues at this sale.
)a* many )&* some )c* any
(3)&+: +a%e you found 7777777 yet?
)a* something )&* anything )c* nothing
9*4*: ,ell there seems to &e 7777777 things of interest. $t really is a shame.
)a* a few )&* few )c* little
(3)&+: $ cant &elie%e that. $m sure you can find 7777777 interesting if you look in 7777777 stall.
)a* a thing " all )&* something / each )c* anything " some
9*4*: 9oure pro&a&ly right. $ts 5ust that there are 7777777 collectors and they 7777777 seem to &e set on
finding 7777777 of %alue. $ts so stressful competing with themC
)a* a few " e%ery " a thing )&* a lot " each " much )c* a lot of / all / anything
(3)&+: +ow 7777777 anti!ue furniture do you think there is?
)a* many )&* much )c* few
9*4*: Fh $d say there must &e 7777777 pieces. +owe%er only 7777777 are really worth 7777777 prices they
are asking.
)a* several / a few / the high )&* many " few " a high )c* much " little " high
(3)&+: ,hy dont you take a &reak? ,ould you like to ha%e 7777777 coffee?
)a* any )&* some )c* little
9*4*: Sure $d lo%e to ha%e 7777777. $ could use 7777777 minutes of downtime.
)a* any " some )&* little " a little )c* one / a few
(3)&+: Great, lets go o%er there. Therere 7777777 seats left.
)a* a few )&* some )c* little
6
$n the following sentences, fill in the gaps with one of the following !uantifiers#
much, man, lots of, a lot of, little, most, a little, little, a few, few
/. $t seems to me that we%e had 7777777 assignments in English this term. DmanyE
3. +ow 7777777 material can we &e expected to read in one week? DmuchE
8. 7777777 &ooks are not in the li&rary. D;anyE
:. $%e had 7777777 headaches already &ecause of stress. DmanyE
=. 7777777 depression can &e attri&uted to &eing o%erworked. D;uchE
>. Fur yard looks awful this summer. There are too 7777777 weeds. DmanyE
@. $ didnt use 7777777 fertiliGer last spring, and that has made a difference. DmuchE
A. Also, $%e paid 7777777 attention to how 7777777 rain we%e had. Dlittle " muchE
B. $m afraid its rained 7777777 times this summer, and the grass is turning &rown and dying. DfewE
/4. 7777777 experts say you should fertiliGe your lawn in the fall. D;anyE
//. $t didnt seem to do my lawn 7777777 good. DmuchE
/3. 7777777 ad%ice you get from experts doesnt seem to help. D;ostE
/8. 7777777 of my neigh&ors ignore their grass, and they ha%e &etter lawns this year. D;anyE
/:. They say 7777777 knowledge is a &ad thing. Da littleE
/=. $ know 7777777 instances where that pro%es true. Da fewE
/>. 7777777 people know as much a&out computers as Tomas does. DHewE
/@. -ut it does him 7777777 good when the whole system goes down. DlittleE
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