Quantifiers

Quantifiers are adjectives and adjectival phrases that answer the questions "How much?" and "How many?" We use quantifiers before a noun, an article or a determiner to describe quantity and amount.

Rule 1: To choose the right quantifier, you need to determine whether the noun it refers to is countable or uncountable and consider if there is an article (the) or a determiner (these, those, yours, etc.) before a noun.

Here is how to use the most common quantifiers in English:

A Lot Of / Lots Of

Rule 2: We can use quantifiers a lot of and lots of in positive and negatives sentences, questions and with all types of nouns, as well as before articles and determiners.

These are the most flexible quantifiers in the English language. Other alternatives include plenty of, a great deal of, loads of, etc.

Much / Many

Rule 3: We use much with uncountable nouns and many with countable nouns to describe a large amount of something in positive sentences as well as negatives and questions.

Note: We can use the word so before quantifiers much/many to emphasize a very large amount of something or the word too to suggest there is more of something than needed.

Few / Little

Rule 4: We use few with countable nouns and little with uncountable nouns to describe a small amount of something in positive sentences as well as negatives and questions.

Note: We can use the word so before quantifiers few/little to emphasize a very small amount of something or the word too to suggest there is less of something than needed.

Note: We can use quantifiers a few and a little to also express a small number of things, but keep in mind that they express a larger amount than few and little without the particle a.

Some / Any

Rule 5: We can use the quantifiers some (in positive sentences and questions) and any (in negatives and questions) with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Note: We can use both some and any in questions, but we use some only in questions that express an offer/request or when we expect the positive answer, i.e., "yes."

Enough

Rule 6: We can use enough with both countable and uncountable nouns to express that there is a sufficient amount of something in positive sentences, negatives, and questions.

Quantifiers with Of

Rule 7: We can add the word of to a quantifier to introduce a noun preceded by an article (the), a determiner (e.g., their) or a personal pronoun (e.g., them).