Quantifiers

Quantifiers are determiners that describe quantity in a noun phrase. They answer the question

"How many?" or "How much?" on a scale from none (0%) to all (100%).

  countable uncountable

100 all
%

every  

  most

many much

some

(a) few (a) little

fewest least

any

0% no

C = Countable U = Uncountable
Like all determiners, quantifiers come at the beginning of a noun phrase, so they come in front
of any adjective(s).

 I want all the eggs and I want all the red wine.

 Please give me every  egg you have.
 Who has the most eggs? Who has the most  money?
 We don't have many  eggs. We don't have much  money.
 I have some  eggs. I have some  money.
 I have a few  eggs. I have a little money.
 I don't have any  eggs. I don't have any  money.
 We had no eggs. We had no money.

quantifie comparativ superlativ

r e e

increasing ➚

C man more most

y

muc
U h

decreasing ➘

C few fewer fewest

U little less least

many/much

The quantifiers many and much mean "a large quantity of". We

use many with countable nouns and much with uncountable nouns:

 Were there many people at the party? Was it busy?

 We don't have much time left so let's go soon.
Note that we tend to use many/much in negative and question sentences.
For positive sentences, especially in informal English, we prefer a lot of, or
(very informal) lots of.

    C U

+ I've got a lot of eggs a lot of rice

- I haven't got many eggs much rice

? Have you got many eggs? much rice?