Quantifiers

Nouns which are always in plural

form and which take plural verbs.

People: all the men, women, and children who

live in a particular country, or who have the same
culture or language:
The French are known as food-loving people.
Clothes: things that you wear to cover, protect,
or decorate your body:
She usually wears smart/casual clothes.
Goods: items for sale:
They sell leather goods such as wallets,
purses, and briefcases.

 Nouns

that consist of two parts:

trousers, glasses, jeans,
scissors...
Collective nouns name a group of
people or things and may take
either a singular or a plural verb.
Examples- crew, cast, audience,
class, committee , family, team,
group, government...
The audience was/were clearly
delighted with the performance.

Plural/ Singular
Singular

Rule

Plural

boy, girl

Add -s

boys, girls

echo, hero

Add s to a few -o
endings

echoes, heroes

box, church

Add es to -s, -sh,ch, -x, -z endings

boxes, churches

melody, fly

Change y to i and
add -es to y
endings.
If a vowel comes
before the -y, add
s.

melodies, flies

Change f to v,
add es to most.
Add s to a few f
endings

thieves, halves

Same spelling

corn, tuna, fish

monkey, day

thief, half
roof, cuff
corn, tuna, fish

monkeys, days

roofs, cuffs

Expressions of quantity
Count and uncount nouns
1 It is important to understand the difference between count and uncount nouns.

Count nouns
biscuits
a biscuit
boys
a boy
Count nouns:
a carrot
carrots
can be singular or plural.
book
We can asay
two books. books
We can count them.

Uncount nouns
tea
pasta
homework
meat
Uncount nouns:
can only be singular.
We cannot say two meats.
We cannot count them.

Oxford University Press

CONTAINERS
FOR
UNCOUNTABLE
NOUNS

a glass of

water/orange
juice/wine

a cup of

coffee/tea

a bottle of
milk/water/perfume

a carton of milk/juice

a can/tin of
coke/beer/tuna/beans

a jar of
honey/jam/marmalade

a box of eggs/chocolate

a bag of
potatoes/onions

a packet of
crisps/biscuits/cigarettes/pain
killers

a bar of chocolate/soap

a bowl of soup/salad

a slice of
bread/cake/cheese/pizza

a loaf of bread

a tube of
toothpaste/paint

a roll of toilet paper

a bunch of parsley

a bouquet / bunch of
flowers

a dozen of eggs/roses

a kilo of
flour/meat/oranges

a litre of water/oil

Plurals:
a bottle of milk two bottles of
milk
a packet of flour two packets
of flour
a kilo of flour two kilos of flour

Uncountable nouns that

change meaning in
countable form

Hair

Hairs

 Light

Lights

 Glass

Glasses

 Wood

Woods

 Experience: skill or knowledge that

you get by doing something (singular)
Experience(s): things that you do,
see or happen to you
Time: the thing that is measured as
seconds, minutes, hours, days, years,
etc.
Times: one of a series of recurring
instances or repeated actions

 Some Chicken
Chicken

 Iron

An Iron

Expressions of quantity
some and any
1 Some is used in positive sentences.
I need some salt.
2 Any is used in questions and negatives.
I didnt eat any pudding.

Do you have any money?

3 We can use some in questions that are requests or offers.

Would you like some water?

Can I have some coffee?

4 no (=not any) + uncountable / plural countable is used in

affirmative sentences to give a negative meaning.
There is no bread in the kitchen.
There are no students in the hall.

Oxford University Press

A / AN, SOME / ANY

Countable
An
_______
apple
Some apples
________

Uncountable
some butter.
_______

(-) We dont need

A
______
tomato
Any
________
tomatoes

Any rice.
_______

(?) Do we need

An
_______
orange?
_______
Any oranges?

_______
Any sugar?

(+) We need

Expressions of quantity
much and many
1 We use much with uncount nouns in questions and negatives.
How much rice is there?

There isnt much milk.

2 We use many with count nouns in questions and negatives.

How many sisters do you have?
I dont have many songs on my iPod.
Much and many are not usually used in positive statements.
3 Complete the sentences.
1 How ___ money have you got?

How much money have you got?

2 There isnt ___ time.

There isnt much time.

3 There arent ___ pears.

There arent many pears.

Oxford University Press

Dont use much with an affirmative

statement.

Too much / too many

Too much + uncountable noun
(in affirmative sentences)
Too many + countable noun
(in affirmative sentences)
Too much and too many are
phrases that are used to say
that there is more of
something than is wanted.
Their meaning is negative.

Examples.
I

have got too many CDs. ( I dont have a

place to put all my CDs

There is too much traffic in Ankara. ( the

number of buses, cars, etc is too high.)

Ive got too much work.

x He has a good job. He earns too

much money.

A few/a little
countable / uncountable
=A small quantity
Not a lot, but enough
Some

Very Few/ Very little

count/non count
=Almost none
Not enough

When we use very, we are saying

the quantity is not enough.
Very few people wanted to have a

I have a little money left. I can buy

that sweater.
I would like to go to Disney World
with the kids, but I have very little

I was hungry, so I ate a few nuts.

I have very few friends in this city,
so I feel lonely.

Replace the words in italics with a few, very few,

a little, or very little.
The instructor spoke very clearly. As a result, not many
students had questions at the end of her speech.
VERY FEW
I have to go to the bank because I have some checks I need
to deposit.
A FEW
Jeremy goes to his mailbox every day, but it is usually
empty. He does not get much mail.
VERY LITTLE
* My friend arrived in the United States some days ago.
A FEW

 I think you could get some help. Can I give you some
suggestions?
A LITTLE / A FEW
Some sugar makes a cup of coffee taste better.
A LITTLE
Jenny likes to eat salad. She usually adds some lemon
juice to it.
A LITTLE
I do not have much patience for people who make a
decision before considering all sides of an argument.
VERY LITTLE
Amanda is smart. She studies hard for tests and usually
does not have many problems at school.
VERY FEW

Expressions of quantity
a lot/lots of
1 We use a lot/lots of with both count and uncount nouns.
He has lots of questions.
Theyve got a lot of money.
2 A lot/lots of can be used in questions and negatives.
Are there lots of shops in the town centre?
There isnt a lot of sugar, but theres enough.
3 Choose the correct option.
1 There are a lot of / a little children in the garden.

a lot of

2 I eat lots of / a little fruit. I dont like it much.

a little

3 We only have a little / a few friends here.

a few

Oxford University Press

EXPRESSIONS OF
QUANTITY

USED WITH
COUNTABLE
NOUNS

USED WITH
UNCOUNTABLE
NOUNS

a few / few
many

+ a plural noun
(a few students)

Not used

a little / little
much

Not used

+ an uncountable
noun (a little money)

not any / no
some
a lot of
lots of
plenty of
hardly any

+ a plural noun
(plenty of apples)

+ an uncountable
noun (plenty of rice)