English Level:
Intermediate and above
What are quantifiers?
some, much, many, a lot, lots of, few, little
Common mistake:
Using a quantifier with an incorrect type of noun.
English language learners sometimes misuse quantifiers.
To sound like a native speaker of English, you must use them correctly.
To help you remember it, think of it like this:
Specific quantifiers go hand in hand with specific nouns.
When do we use them?
We use them to show:
quantity
The
of a noun.
amount
The
of a noun.
degree
The
of a noun.
Visual explanation:
much
little
a little
only a little
uncountable
nouns
uncountable
nouns
uncountable
nouns
plural
nouns
many
few
plural
nouns
a few
only a few
plural
nouns
a lot of
plenty of
lots of
Examples of uncountable and plural nouns with their quantifiers:
More examples
There is not much sugar in the cake.
Much of the water had evaporated.
Her health had not improved much.
She withdrew some money from the bank.
There is lots of traffic on the road.
There were a lot of sheep in the field.
Many fans attended the football match.
He put some petrol in his car before going on the trip.
What do we mean by ‘plenty of’?
Look at these situations.
1 hour
7 hours
11 hours
not enough sleep
enough sleep
more than enough sleep
1 hour
7 hours
11 hours
Top tip
not enough time
enough time
Here’s a different way of saying this.
more than enough time
11 hours
plenty of time
not enough food
enough food
more than enough food
Top tip
Here’s a different way of saying this.
plenty of food
In other words:
No, thank you.
I’ve had plenty!
Would you like some more food?
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