This document discusses different types of quantifiers in English including: - A few and a little are used to express small quantities and are followed by countable and uncountable nouns respectively. - Much and many are used to express big quantities in questions and negatives, with much used for uncountable nouns and many for countable nouns. - A lot of and lots of can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns to express big quantities, especially in affirmative sentences.

1. Quantifiers
Many / much / a few
/ a little and lots of
Done by ; Mohammed AL Abdallah.

2. What are quantifiers ?
• A quantifier is a word that usually goes before a noun to express the quantity
of the object; for example, a little milk. Most quantifiers are followed by a
noun, though it is also possible to use them without the noun when it is clear
what we are referring to. For example,
• Do you want some milk? – Just a little. (It’s clear that I mean ‘a little milk’.)

3. How many ………….?
How much …………?
•How many times have you visited Rome?
•How many people were at the meeting?
•How many chairs do we need?
•How much time have you got?
•How much bread does he eat?
•How much petrol shall I buy?

4. A few
A little
• To talk about small quantities we can use ‘a few’ and ‘a little’. We use ‘a few’
with countable nouns and ‘a little’ with uncountable nouns. It’s also possible to
use ‘a bit’ with uncountable nouns, but it is more informal.
•
Here are some examples:
•We need a few coins for the car park.
•Would you like a little milk in your coffee?
•They ate a few biscuits with their tea.
•The engine needs a little oil.

5. Much
Many
A lot of / lots of
• We use (many, much, a lot (of), lots of ) to refer to big quantities. We use ‘many’ with countable
nouns and ‘much’ with uncountable nouns, and we can use ‘a lot (of)’ with both countable and
uncountable nouns. In modern English it is very common to use ‘a lot (of)’ in affirmative
sentences instead of ‘many’ and ‘much’.
There are many things to do today.
• We have a lot of time left, don’t worry.
• Many people take the train to work.
• Much Italian food is sold abroad.
• She plays a lot of sport.
•

6. Summary
Quantifier Countable Uncountable use
How many .? √ In questions
How much.? √ In questions
A few √ To express
small
amount
A little √ To express
small
amount
Much √ To express
big amount
in questions
and negative
Many √ To express
big amount
in questions
and negative
A lot of/
Lots of
√ √ To express
big amount
in positive
For quantifier

7. Exercises
We haven't got _____ petrol. We need to stop and get some.
a. much
b. many
c. little
2We had ________ rain last autumn.
a. a lot of
b. few
c. many
3There was ________ food in the fridge. It was nearly empty.
a. little
b. many
c. few
4You travel a lot. Have you been to _____ countries?
a. much
b. many
c. few
5It costs _____ money to give your children a good education.
a. how many
b. many
c. a lot of