Quantifiers II

B2 - Upper-Intermediate

Read the Grammar Reference and complete the quiz.

GRAMMAR REFERENCE


ALL


All is NOT normally used to express everything or everybody (except in Dear All / Tell me all). It is normally followed by a noun: All (of) the students / All (of) my neighbours (except in All (that) / It all / We all)
We do not normally use THE before numbers or time expressions: All four choices / All night long
With object pronouns, there are two possible structures: I fancy all of them / I fancy them all.

WHOLE / ALL


WHOLE + SINGULAR COUNTABLE NOUNS: The whole nation (All the nation) / A whole cake (All the cake) / My whole family (All my family)
ALL + UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS: All the love / water
WHOLE + OF: The whole of Spain / ALL + OF: All of Spain
For things that are divided into parts we can use ALL+ SINGULAR COUNTABLE NOUNS: All (of) my class (=My whole class)

BOTH


BOTH (OF THE) = EACH OF TWO: We have both of them / We have them both / We have both passed (In the latter, both refers to the subject)

EITHER / NEITHER


EITHER / NEITHER + SINGULAR NOUNS / VERBS: either foot / neither twin
EITHER / NEITHER + OF + PLURAL NOUN / PRONOUN: Has either of you seen Pete? / Neither of them knows the answer.
OCCASIONALLY you can use EITHER SIDE meaning EACH SIDE

EVERY / EACH


EVERY/EACH + SINGULAR NOUNS/VERBS: to express individual differences (=ALL OF + PLURAL NOUN). DO NOT USE EVERY + 2 THINGS/PEOPLE, use each INSTEAD)
EVERY / EACH (ONE) OF + DETERMINER + PLURAL NOUN: Every one of her problems / Every one of us / Each (one) of his students (=Each one of them)
EVERY + NUMERICAL EXPRESSION: every two weeks

SOME, ANY, OR NO QUANTIFIER


SOME ANY + LIMITED NUMBER OR QUANTITIES (NOT UNLIMITED): Money is evil.
NOT WITH EXACT NUMBERS OR QUANTITIES: some very big hands
NOT NORMALLY WITH DESCRIPTIONS OR DEFINITIONS: My parents have dark hair.
SOME TO EXPRESS CONTRAST: Some like her, others don't.
MEANING UNKNOWN: Some politician has been caught in the act
ENTHUSIASTIC SOME: That was SOME party!
MEANING AN IMPRESSIVE NUMBER: There are some 1,500 protesters
IF + ANY: Let me know if there're any problems / about any problems
USE SOME FOR SUGGESTIONS / REQUESTS / OFFERS: Can I give you some advice?
ANY FOR FREE CHOICE: Ask any doctor / You're welcome any time

EMPHATIC USE OF NO + SINGULAR COUNTABLE NOUNS: He's no fool
IF THERE'S NO NOUN, USE NO + OF: None of you realised

MUCH / MANY


UNUSUAL IN POSITIVE SENTENCES (We need to use A LOT OF/PLENTY OF instead)
USE AFTER TOO/SO/AS: too much / so much / so many / as many / as much
IN FORMAL ENGLISH WE CAN USE THEM INSOME POSITIVE SENTENCES: There's been much controversy / Many of us required assistance

MORE / MOST


MOST = the majority of: Most music styles / Most of them
IF COMPARING: Within my household, I earn THE MOST money

LITTLE / FEW / LESS / FEWER / LEAST / FEWEST


(A) LITTLE / FEW: I speak a little English / Few students turned up
(IN SPOKEN ENGLISH WE USE NOT MUCH/MANY OR ONLY A LITTLE/FEW)
LESS / FEWER ARE COMPARATIVE (≠MORE): The less money you spend, the better / Fewer books are being printed nowadays
LEAST / FEWEST ARE SUPERLATIVE (≠MOST): This class has the fewest students / I earned the least points in the game
LESS / LEAST + SINGULAR UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
FEWER / FEWEST + PLURAL NOUNS
IN COLLOQUIAL ENGLISH, LESS + PLURALS: Less times / Less students

ENOUGH


ENOUGH + NOUNS: Enough food / Enough chairs
ADJECTIVES + ENOUGH: He's not good enough for you
ENOUGH ... (FOR) ... TO: I have enough petrol to get home / There isn't money in the world for me to accept that job
ADVERBS WITH ENOUGH: (Not) nearly / just / quite / more than

QUANTIFYING PHRASES


AMOUNT + UNCOUNTABLE NOUN: A great deal of trouble / A large sum of money / A small amount of sugar
NUMBER + PLURALS: A large number of tests / A small number of casualties
When singular quantity expressions are used with nouns, the following verb can be SINGULAR (after singular nouns) or PLURAL (after plural nouns): A great deal of stubbornness has been displayed / A large number of employees are protesting
IN INFORMAL ENGLISH: A lot of / Lots of + SING/PL NOUNS
IN COLLOQUIAL ENGLISH: Loads of / Heaps of / Tons of

OF + QUANTIFIER


SOME OF / ANY OF / MUCH OF + DETERMINERS + PRONOUNS: not much of it / any of them / many of the students
EVERY ONE / NONE + OF: every one of us / none of the activities (We cannot use every / no here)
QUANTIFIER + OF + PROPER NOUNS: I've not seen much of Peter lately. / Most of Nepal has been devastated.
REMEMBER THAT OF CAN BE DROPPED BEFORE ALL / BOTH
LONG QUANTIFIER + OF + NOUN: a lot of people / a great deal of danger / the majority of voters
ANY / NONE / NEITHER / EITHER + OF + PLURAL NOUN/PRONOUN: None of them has replied (SINGULAR VERB = formal) / Neither of them have failed (PLURAL VERB = informal)