Graduate
Writing
Lab
Yale
Center
for
Teaching
and
Learning
Quantifiers
Quantifiers
are
adjectives
or
adjectival
phrases
that
describe
“how
much”
(uncountable)
or
“how
many”
(countable)†
of
a
given
noun
there
is.
Types
of
Quantifiers
Some
quantifiers
can
only
go
with
countable
(precise
quantity)
nouns,
while
others
can
only
modify
uncountable
(imprecise
quantity)
nouns.
A
few
quantifiers
can
modify
both.
Some
examples
are
listed
below,
but
more
can
be
found
at
the
links
under
“Resources”
(below).
For
use
with
For
use
with
For
use
with
both
types
of
uncountable
nouns
countable
nouns
nouns
No,
none
A
few,
few
A
little,
little
Some
(of)
A
number
of
A
bit
of
Any
Numerous
A
great
deal
of
A
lot
Several
A
large
amount
of
Lots
of
Many
Much
Plenty
of
(numbers)*
Enough
Examples
• The
city
had
a
large
amount
of
traffic
due
to
road
construction.
• Not
much
rain
in
the
spring
meant
that
the
crops
suffered
in
the
summer.
*Aside
about
Numbers
Numbers
(one,
two,
etc.)
are
different
than
quantifiers:
quantifiers
are
more
general
in
description,
while
numbers
indicate
precise
quantities.
However,
quantifiers
and
numbers
can
be
used
in
the
same
way:
The
experiments
were
repeated
a
few
times
in
order
to
ensure
accuracy.
vs.
The
experiments
were
repeated
three
times
in
order
to
ensure
accuracy.
The
quantifier
“a
few”
describes
the
noun
“times”
in
a
general
sense.
If
you
wanted
to
do
the
same
procedure
as
the
author,
you
would
not
know
how
many
times
you
should
run
the
experiment.
The
“Methods”
and/or
the
“Experimental”
portion
of
a
scientific
manuscript
should
not
use
general
quantifiers.
Daria
Huang
@May
2015
Connotation/Attitudes
of
Quantifiers
A
few
and
few
(for
countable)
as
well
as
a
little
and
little
(for
uncountable
nouns)
may
seem
very
similar,
but
they
actually
hold
very
different
connotations.
A
few
and
a
little
indicate
that
the
speaker
feels
positively
about
the
quantity
he/she
is
describing:
though
he/she
may
not
have
much,
it
is
enough.
Few
and
little
indicates
the
speaker
feels
negatively
about
the
quantity:
he/she
is
lacking
in
the
noun
and
would
like
more
if
it
were
available.
Examples
• I
have
a
little
money
for
lunch.
⇒
I
have
enough
money
for
lunch.
• I
have
little
money
for
lunch.
⇒
I
do
not
have
enough
money
for
lunch.
• The
scientist
has
a
few
techniques
which
she
can
use
to
determine
his
product.
⇒
The
scientist
has
enough
techniques
which
she
can
use
to
determine
his
product.
• The
scientist
has
few
techniques
which
she
can
use
to
determine
his
product.⇒
The
scientist
does
not
have
enough
techniques
which
she
can
she
use
to
determine
his
product.
Quantifiers
followed
by
“of”
Many
quantifiers
that
end
in
“of”
must
be
followed
by
an
article
or
determiner
(these,
his,
my,
etc.),
although
some
do
not.
Unfortunately,
no
exact
rule
determines
which
quantifiers
require
an
article
after
“of.”
A
few
examples
are
listed
below.
Must
be
May
or
may
not
be
followed
by
article
or
determiner
followed
by
article
or
determiner
All
of
Some
of
Many
of
Plenty
of
Much
of
A
lot
of
(A)
few
of
A
number
of
(A)
little
of
A
couple
of
None
of
Several
of
Enough
of
Examples
• Many
of
the
doctors
believed
much
of
his
research
was
flawed.
• None
of
the
tourists
knew
that
a
lot
of
piranha
species
prefer
to
eat
crackers
over
meat
OR
None
of
the
tourists
knew
that
a
lot
of
the
piranha
species
prefer
to
eat
crackers
over
meat.
Practice
Choose
the
quantifier(s)
which
make(s)
the
sentence
grammatically
correct:
1. The
tea
was
too
sweet
because
she
had
put
too
[much
|
many]
sugar.
2. [Much
|
Lots
of
|
Several]
soil
samples
were
taken
from
archaeological
dig
site.
3. [A
large
amount
of
|
Plenty
of
|
A
large
number
of]
fish
in
inhabit
the
Great
Barrier
Reef.
Choose
if
the
quantifier
should
be
positive
or
negative
based
on
the
rest
of
the
sentence:
1. [A
few
|
Few]
friends
visited
him
at
the
hospital,
which
seemed
to
raise
his
spirits.
2. The
stock
plummeted
in
price
at
closing,
so
in
the
end
there
was
[a
little
|
little]
profit.
3. She
was
busy
with
classes,
so
she
had
[a
little
|
little]
time
for
tennis.
Determine
if
an
article
or
determiner
is
necessary:
1. A
number
of
_____
actors
complained
to
the
director
about
the
lighting.
2. Enough
of
_____
students
complained
to
the
professor
about
the
noisy
room
that
all
of
______
class
was
able
to
have
lecture
outside.
3. All
of
_____
friends
found
that
while
she
had
a
lot
of
_____
books,
she
preferred
to
read
only
one
or
two
repeatedly.
Sources
and
Further
Reading/Practice:
http://linguapress.com/grammar/quantifiers.htm
http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/quantifiers/
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/determiners/determiners.htm
More practice: http://www.grammarbank.com/quantifiers.html
More practice: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/determiners-and-quantifiers/quantifiers
†For more information on countable and uncountable nouns, Yale GWL offers a separate tutorial on the topic.
