QUANTIFIERS

Talking about large or small amounts

LARGE QUANTITIES Difference between:Lots of a lot of a lot

I have lots of friends.I have a lot of friends.

He speaks a lot.

No difference!!There must be a noun after them

There is no noun after it

LARGE QUANTITIESWhat is the difference between… ?MANY / MUCH A LOT OF / LOTS

OFPLENTY OF - ENOUGH

I don’t have many friends

I don’t spend much money

I have a lot of friends

I spend lots of money

There is plenty of/enough sugar in the cellar

We have plenty of money

We use them in negative

sentences (normally)

We use them in affirmative sentences (normally)

In positive sentences, it

means “as much as we need

(enough) or even more (plenty of)”

LARGE QUANTITIES (more than you need – negative connotations)

TTOO MUCH /TOO MANY TOO

There is too much noise

There are too many people in this room

This dress is too big for me.

They are followed by uncountable

(much) or plural countable

nouns (many)

They are followed by adjectives

SMALL QUANTITIES What is the difference between…?

(VERY) LITTLE

A LITTLE (VERY) FEW A FEW

We have little time to rest

Could you give me a little sugar?

There are very few students in this class.Few people can afford that car.

I found a few coins in my pocket.

Used with uncountable

nouns:NOT MUCH

Used with uncountable

nouns:A SMALL AMOUNT

Used with countable

nouns:NOT MANY

Used with countable

nouns:A SMALL NUMBER

LESS THAN YOU NEEDNOT ENOUGH /i`nVf /

He is not brave enough to do bungee jumping.

I have told you this clearly enough.

There isn’t enough wine for everyone.

There aren’t enough glasses for everyone.

Used AFTER adjectives

and adverbsUsed before

nouns

ZERO QUANTITYTHERE ISN’T ANY.. THERE IS NO… NONE /NONE

OFThere isn’t any cheese in the fridge.

There aren’t any bike lanes in this city

There is no cheese in the fridge.

There are no bike lanes in this city

How much free time do you have? – NONE

None of your friends will miss your birthday

No difference. You can either

use :There isn’t

any… or There is no…

Short answer. It means “NOTHING

AT ALL”

Not one of a group

Mª Elena Tapia Carrillo

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

NOVEMBER 2010