Quantifiers are words or phrases that are used before a noun to show the amount of it that is being considered.
It is often followed by ‘of’, as in a lot of money.
For Example
- Most children start school at the age of five.
- We ate some bread and butter.
- We saw lots of birds.
- I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.
- There were hundreds of people at the meeting.
- They haven’t made many friends here.
- We’ve got lots of things to do.
- That’s a lot of money.
- There weren’t a lot of choices.
Table of Contents
Types of Quantifiers in English
There are three types of them:
- Quantifiers with Countable Nouns
- Quantifiers with Non-Countable Nouns
- Quantifiers with Countable and Non-Countable Nouns
Quantifiers with Countable Nouns
These are some quantifiers that we can use with countable nouns.
Many | A few |
Few | Several |
A couple | None of |
Thousands of | Both |
Neither | Each |
Examples
- You have several paintings which are worth millions.
- We have several problems to solve
- I cut down a couple of trees in the forest
- She bought a couple of bikes for her nieces.
- None of the trees was cut down
- None of my friends came to the party
- There are many people who want to help you out
- We have many cats and dogs at home
- Thousands of people came to the party
- Thousands of people left their homes after volcano eruption
- Both trees from your yard were cut down
- Both of them came to my office and asked for a raise.
- Neither one of them made a contribution to the project.
- Neither one of them brought what they promised
Quantifiers with Non-Countable Nouns
These are some quantifiers that we can use with non- countable nouns.
Not much | A little |
Little | A bit of |
A good deal | A great deal |
Examples
- I have a great deal of confidence in this team.
- A good deal of attention needs to be devoted to little children.
- I need a little bit of help with the programming assignment
- There is not much action in this movie
- With very little I keep the organization alive.
Quantifiers with Countable and Non-Countable Nouns
These are some quantifiers that we can use with countable and non-countable nouns.
- all of the trees/
- some trees/ water
- most of the trees/
- enough trees/ information
- a lot of trees/ information
- lots of trees/ water
- plenty of trees/ information
- a lack of trees/ water
Examples
- All of the trees were cut down
- Some information has been leaked to the public
- Most of the oceans are polluted
- I don’t have enough money to get until the end of the month
- There is a lack of water in distant communities
- We have lots of time.
- Joe has lots of friends.
- I can’t go out. I’ve got no money.
- There was a lot of food but no drinks.
Quantifiers Exercises
These are some exercises to see how much you know about quantifiers
- Quantifiers Exercises – A, An and Some
- Quantifiers Exercises – A Few and A Little
- Quantifiers Exercises – Much and Many
- Quantifiers Exercises – Much and Many in Questions
- Quantifiers Exercises
- Quantifiers Mixed Exercise 1
- Quantifiers Mixed Exercise 2
- Quantifiers Exercises – some, any, much, many, a lot of, a little, a few
More Information
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