UNIT 13

THE EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY

0. INTRODUCTION
1. THE EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY
2. THE EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY: NUMBER
2.1. Nouns
2.1.1. Singular vs. plural
2.1.2. Count vs. noncount
2.2. Numerals
2.3. Pronouns
2.3.1. Universal pronouns
2.3.2. Partitive pronouns
2.3.3. Quantifying pronouns
3. REGARDING DETERMINERS
3.1. Predeterminers
3.2. Central determiners
3.3. Postdeterminers
4. REGARDING PARTITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
5. REGARDING OTHER MEANS
6. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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0. INTRODUCTION

In order to offer an insightful analysis on the expression of quantity in English, several major
bibliographical references have been used, namely Greenbaum, Leech, Quirk and Starvick, A
Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1985), Leech and Starvick, A
Communicative Grammar of English (1986), Swan, Practical English Usage (1995); Rodney
Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
(2002) or Thomson and Martinet, A Practical English Grammar (1986).

1. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE NOTION OF QUANTITY

Before going into detail, we must point out that the notion of quantity is expressed by the
distinct linguistic levels:
phonology deals with pronunciation of singular and plural forms (bus, buses); morphology
deals with plural markers (-s, -es).
syntax with the establishment of rules that specify which combinations of words constitute
grammatical strings (determiner + noun).
lexis deals with the expression of amount by means of idioms (stubborn as a mule ),
verb choices (rain vs. pour).
adverbial expressions (speaking loud).
partitive constructions (a piece of furniture).
semantics deals with meaning where syntactic and morphological levels do not tell the
difference ('You are here'-you, 2nd person singular or you, 2nd person plural).

2. EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY: NUMBER

Nouns
Here, we shall examine the properties of number in nouns regarding singular vs. plural, and
count vs. noncount.

Singular versus plural

The contrast singular vs. plural is drawn from the category of number which operates
through subject-verb concord and pronominal reference, where every noun form is
understood grammatically as either singular or plural. Singular, then, relates to the quantity
one for count nouns, whereas plural relates to the quantity more than one for count nouns.
Within the term PLURAL, different types are included. We can distinguish between variable
vs. invariable plurals. In turn, each of these is subdivided into different types:

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 Singular -Non-count nouns: concrete
invariable (gold, furniture)
-Non-count nouns: abstract
(music, homework)
-Proper nouns (The Alps, the
Thames)
-Some nouns ending in -s (news,
billiards)
PLURALS INVARIABLE Plural -Summation plurals (trousers,
invariable scissors)
-Pluralia tantum in -s (thanks,
outskirts)
-Plural proper nouns (the
Netherlands)
-Unmarked plural nouns (cattle)

Regular plurals Plurals in -s or -es (boy-boys; fly-

flies)
VARIABLE
Irregular plurals Voicing (knife -knives; thief-
thieves)
Mutation (man-men; goose-
geese)
-en plural (brother-brethren) zero
plural (fish-fish) foreign plurals
(analysis-analyses)
VARIABLE PLURALS. we distinguish first, regular plurals (adding -s/-es) and irregular plurals
(voicing, mutation, -en plural, zero plural and foreign plurals).
INVARIABLE PLURALS. plurals, we also distinguish, on the one hand, singular invariables (
concrete vs. abstract noncount nouns, proper nouns, some nouns ending in -s (news), and
abstract adjectival heads), and, on the other hand, plural invariables ( summation plurals,
pluralia tantum in -s, some plural proper nouns, unmarked plural nouns, and personal
adjectival heads: the rich). Finally, in addition to singular and plural number, we may
distinguish dual number in the case of both, either, and neither, since they can only be used
with reference to two.
VARIABLE PLURALS we shall distinguish between regular and irregular plural formation.
Since the vast majority of English nouns are count, they take plural formation in a regular
and predictable way in sound and spelling. Regarding sound, /s/ /z/ /iz/
Regarding spelling, for the most part, plurals are formed by simply adding -s to the singular
(cat-cats, girl-girls).
Other regular plurals add -es in nouns ending in -z, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x and -o (waltzes, gases,
dresses, wishes, matches, boxes and tomatoes).
(body-bodies, country-countries). Note that there is a change in the words ending in -f,
where the f of the base is changed into v (calf -calves, knife-knives, leaf-leaves).

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some irregularities. Thus, first, (1) voicing, which is a change in the base, from voiceless to
voiced consonant, when a the regular suffix -s/-es is added (bath-baths, house -houses).
Note that this may be reflected in spelling (knife-knives) or not (mouth-mouths).
mutation, when a few nouns undergo a change of vowel sound and spelling ('mutation
plurals') without an ending (foot-feet, louse-lice, tooth -teeth, goose-geese, man-men).
-en plural, pronounced with schwa, involves both vowel change and an irregular ending, as
for instance, child children, ox -oxen, and brother-brethren, when used in the sense of
'fellow members'.
zero plurals (sheep, cattle), and in particular, to those viewed as prey (They hunted two
reindeer/woodcock and caught two trout/salmon ).
foreign plurals within regular type formation are those used in technical usage, whereas the
-s plural, which is an English regular form is more natural in everyday language ( Compare
formulas (general) and formulae (in mathematics).
From Latin and Greek, still retain the foreign inflection for plural (stimulus-stimuli; corpus-
corpora; criterion -criteria).
INVARIABLE PLURALS. we may distinguish invariable singular vs invariable plural (meat,
sugar), and plural nouns that cannot ordinarily be singular (binoculars, sunglasses). Within
singular invariables, which take a singular verb, we distinguish five main types: (1) concrete
noncount nouns (cheese, gold, furniture); (
2) abstract noncount nouns (homework, music, injustice);
(3)
some proper nouns (Shakespeares, her Mondays, Christmases);
(4) nouns ending in -s are particular words, (news), some diseases (German measles,
mumps, rickets), names in -ics (Physics, classics, phonetics), some games (bowls, dominoes,
fives), and finally,
(5) some proper nouns (Brussels, Athens, Wales) or collective nouns (The States, committee,
government, team).
Within plural invariables, we shall distinguish five main types as well. Thus, (1) summation
(scissors, forceps; tweezers, scales; shorts, tights). Countability is usually achieved through
quantity partition, thus 'a pair of, 'several pairs of; (2) pluralia tantum in -s (also called
aggregate) are nouns (communications=means of communication, and similarly, The Middle
Ages(=Medieval Times), arms (=weapons), customs (=customs duty), goods (=a goods train),
the Lords (=The (3) Some proper nouns are pluralized when a title applies to more than one
succeeding name, as in 'the two Miss Smiths', 'the Kennedys'
(4) we also find unmarked plural nouns which are not plural in form and emerge from some
pluralia tantum, thus The data is/are useful, and similarly cattle, clergy, offspring, people,
police... And finally, (5) some personal adjectival heads of human nature, such as the rich,
the young. Remember that compound nouns form the plural in different ways, thus adding
plural in the first element (passer-by, passers-by).

COUNTABLE VERSUS UNCOUNTABLE

Nouns also reflect the category of number with the contrast between count vs. noncount
nouns. Thus, the term count refers to an 'individual interpretation of an item' from a larger
set of discrete units that could be counted (table, building, tree, car, book, computer, disk),
whereas noncount refers to an 'undelimited' interpretation of a substance (liquid or solid)
rather than a unit ( sand, soap, jam, paper, water, air).

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Countable nouns are easily detected because of plural forms, and that uncountable nouns
are namely reflected in general abstract terms such as names of substances (bread, beer,
coffee); abstract nouns (advice, experience, fear, relief); other nouns countable in other
languages (baggage, camping, damage, furniture, shopping). Uncountable nouns are always
singular and are not used with indefinite articles, but often preceded by quantifiers like
some, any, no, a little (I don't want (any) advice; I want (some) information).
Hence, a plural triggers a count interpretation, as well as numerals, quantifiers (many, few,
several, much, little), and definite or indefinite articles. Common countable nouns can be
preceded by numerals, quantifiers (except for much, little), and definite/indefinite articles
whereas common noncount nouns can only be followed by the quantifiers much and little

NUMERALS
The expression of quantity by means of numerals is given by three sets: cardinal numbers
(one, two, th ree . ), ordinal numbers (first, se cond . ), and fractions.
Cardinal and ordinal can function pronominally or as premodifiers, except for nought / zero.
This figure is called 'nought', oh, zero, and nill. We say 'nought' when it occurs as the name
of the numeral, being replaced by the determiner no or the pronoun none in general use.
We use 'oh' to say numbers and figures at the same time, and when saying figures
separately, as in telephone numbers, post codes, address numbers.

PRONOUNS
For our purpose, we shall concentrate on indefinite pronouns, which include: universal,
partitive, and quantifying pronouns. (See appendix 1).

Universal pronouns
In order to examine universal pronouns, we must also consider first the universal compound
indefinites (everyone, everybody, everything; no one, nobody, nothing), where the suffixes -
one and -body are used for people, whereas the ending -thing is for objects, and -where for
places.
Indefinite personal pronouns functioning as pronouns take singular verbs, despite their
entailment of plural meaning, (Everybody was out; no one wanted to come), thus, 'every-
compounds' and 'each' are used with personal count nouns in singular, and 'everything' and
'each' with unpersonal count nouns. In plural, both personal and non-personal count nouns
refer to 'all/both' and 'all' is used for both singular and plural nouns.

COUNT NON-COUNT
UNIVERSAL Personal Non-
PRONOUNS personal
Everyone Everything
Singular Pronoun Everybody Everywhere
Each Each All

Plural Pronoun All / both

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Partitive pronouns
There are three sets of partitive pronouns with associated determiners (every, all, both, a(n),
some, any, either, neither, none, no): assertive partitive indefinites, non-assertive partitive
indefinites, and negative partitive indefinites.
Some is used for plural count and noncount nouns, both personal and non-personal (You
need some lawyers/water). When 'some' is used to talk about an uncertain or indefinite
quantity (Would you like some sugar?).
Negative partitive pronouns include 'nobody' and 'no one' for personal reference in count
singular nouns whereas, 'nothing'/'nowhere' have non-personal reference. 'None' and
'neither' are used for singular count nouns, both personal and non-personal, and only 'none'
is used for plural count and noncount nouns.

NUMBER FUNCTION COUNT NON-COUNT

PERSONAL
NONPERSONAL
Assertive Pronoun Someone
Singular Determiner something Somebody some
A / an

Plural Pronoun & some

Determiner

Non-assertive Pronoun Anyone Anything

Singular Anybody
Determiner Either any
Any
Plural Pronoun & Any
Determiner

Negative Pronoun Nobody

Singular Determiner Nothing Any
No one
None / neither No

Pronoun & None

Plural Determiner None

QUANTIFYING PRONOUNS
Also called quantifiers, this type of pronouns refer to the increase or decrease of 'the
totality, lack of, or partial amount' of something. They fall into three main subclasses:
a. Quantifiers which can only function as pronouns: they are the universal and partitive
pronouns together, thus someone, somebody, something; anyone, anybody, anything;
everyone, everybody, everything; and no one, nobody, nothing, and none: 'I seem to have

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forgotten everything' and None of the girls has/have been invited'. Numerals are included in
this type and, in particular, cardinal numbers (I bought three).
b. Quantifiers which can function both as pronouns and as determiners: these are divided
into two types: first, enumerative quantifiers for singular and count nouns (a, an, one, and
numerals) or plural count and noncount nouns (some, enough, both, all). Second, general
quantifiers for count nouns (many, (a) few, several) and noncount nouns (much, (a) little).
Thus, the following quantifiers, functioning both as pronouns and determiners, may be
included here: some, any, each, all, both, either, neither; much, many (more, most); (a) little,
less, least; (a) few, fewer, fewest; plenty of, a lot of, lots of, a great deal of; enough, and
several ('So far I have discovered few mistakes).
We may also use phrasal quantifiers, such as 'a great deal of' or 'a large number of' + plural
noun (There are a large number of witnesses) or 'a large amount of'+ singular noun (We
have a great deal of time). In informal style, they appear again in affirmative sentences but
using other expressions, such as plenty of, a lot of, lots of, or loads of, used for both count
and noncount nouns. Many and much have other particular uses, for instance, when
combined with 'too', 'so', or 'as' in order to provide a negative feeling to the 'amount of'
under consideration ('too many children were at home).

c. Quantifiers that function as determiner only. To this subclass belong every and no, as in
'Everybody has its rights' and 'He has no money and no prospects'.

3. EXPRESSION OF QUANTITY: DETERMINERS

There are three classes of determiners regarding the expression of quantity, and therefore,
number. Thus, predeterminers, central determiners, and postdeterminers since they co-
occur with the noun classes: singular count, plural count, and noncount nouns.

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PREDETERMINERS
1 all, both, half, they have in common the positive characteristics of being able to occur
before the articles, the demonstratives, and the possessives (all/both/half the/these/our
students). However, they also have the negative characteristic of not occurring before
determiners that themselves entail quantification: every, each, (n)either, some, any, no,
enough.
2 1 multipliers, we include the items once, twice, three times, expressions of emphasis and
costing. Therefore, the items 'double' and 'twice' can combine with both singular and plural
heads (all poetry; four times Peter's salary; half this cheese; twice these sums). On the other
hand, expressions such as 'many', 'such' and 'what', when realizing the predeterminer
function, are obligatory followed by the indefinite article (many a time, such a disgrace,
what a pity).

CENTRAL DETERMINERS
1 beside the sole definite article the, we have two indefinite articles a and zero marker, the
former occurring with singular count nouns, its zero analogue with noncount and plural
count noun.
2 there are several other determiners that can co-occur equally with singular count, plural
count, and noncount nouns: the demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those); the
possessive pronouns (my, our, your, his, her, its, their); the relative pronouns (which, what,
whose); specifying genitive (all Peter's clothes).

COUNT NON-COUNT
SINGULAR Definite The book The music
Indefinite A book Music
PLURAL Definite The books

Indefinite Books (zero)

Other items include the negative determiner no (He has no car).

the universal determiners every and each (We'll interview every/each student)
the nonassertive/negative dual determiners either and neither (Parking is not permitted on
either side of the street),
the general assertive determiner some (I would like some bread),
the general nonassertive determiner any (We haven't any bread), the quantitative
determiner enough (We have enough bread), also, the quantitative much (We have much
bread).
The definite article, the demonstrative and possessive pronouns, and the genitive are alike
in that they can be preceded by the predeterminer items all, both, double, half and twice,
and followed by cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers and the words last and next.
The indefinite article, for instance, can be preceded by half, many, such and what. An
exception in combinations is that of every + a possessive (his (John's, whose) every wish).

POSTSETERMINERS

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Postdeterminers take their place immediately after determiners. They include:
1 cardinal and ordinal numbers, next, last; few, fewer, fewest; little, less, least; many,
more, most; other, own, same, such.
Postdeterminers fall into two classes: ordinals (first, fourth, last, other) and quantifiers
(cardinal numbers, many, few, plenty of, a lot of).

PARTITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

noncount means, phrasal quantifiers provide a means of imposing countability on noncount

nouns as the following partitive expressions illustrate: general partitives, as in plenty of, a lot
of, lots of, a great/good deal of, a large/small quantity/amount of, a great/large/good
number of.
noncount nouns, referring to 'little bits of' concerning measures, thus a pint of beer, a
spoonful of medicine, a pound of butter, a slice of cake/bread/meat, a roast of meat, a few
loaves of bread, a bowl of soup, a bottle of wine, a cup of coffee, a packet of sugar, a blade
of grass, some specks of dust, and so on. Moreover, general partitives may be included, as in
two pieces/a bit/an item of news/information/furniture.
Regarding plural count nouns, we tend to have partitives relating to specific sets of nouns,
as in a flock of sheep/pigeons, two flocks of sheep; an army of ants; a company of actors; a
crowd of people; a series of concerts, two series of concerts; a pair of scissors.
singular count nouns: we find a piece of a leather belt, a page of a book, two pieces of a
broken cup, two acts of a play.

OTHER MEANS OF EXPRESSING QUANTITY

1 verbs the contrast between rain vs. pour, run vs. rush, eat vs. gulp, hit vs. smash, talk vs.
whisper, and so on.
2 frequency adverbs. For instance, compare the sentences 'I always go swimming four times
a week' (100% frequency) vs. 'I never go swimming' (0% frequency).
3 certain idiomatic expressions. compare 'Charles is a bit stubborn' vs. 'Charles is stubborn
as a mule', 'She is very sensitive' vs. 'She is cold as ice'.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

GREENBAUM, S, LEECH, G, QUIRK, R, SVARTVIK, J., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English

Language. London: Longman, 1985. HUDDLESTON, R. and G.K. PULLUM.. The Cambridge
Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: C.U.P., 2002.
HYMES, DEL. On Communicative Competence. London: Penguin, 1972.
LEECH, G and SVERTVIK, J. A Communicative Grammar of English. Singapore:
Longman., 1986.
SWAN, M. Practical English Usage. Oxford: OUP, 1995.

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APPENDIX

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