Unit 19 Expression of Quantity

1. Introduction
2. A Theoretical Framework for the Notion of Quantity
2.1. Linguistic Levels Involved in the Notion of Quantity
2.2. On Defining Quantity: What and How
2.3. Grammar Categories: Open vs. Closed Classes
3. The Expression of Quantity
4. Regarding Number
4.1. In Nouns
4.2. In Numerals
4.3. In Pronouns
5. Regarding Determiners
5.1. Predeterminers
5.2. Central Determiners
5.3. Post-determiners
6. Regarding Partitive Constructions
6.1. Of – Partitives
6.2. Quantity Partition
6.3. Quality Partition
7. Regarding Other Means
8. Educational Implications
9. Conclusion
10. Bibliography

1. Introduction
This unit is primarily intended to serve as an introduction to the different ways of expressing
quantity in English. The study will be divided into six main chapters. Thus, Chapter 2 provides a
theoretical framework for the notion of quantity within a grammar linguistic theory, in which some
key terminology is defined in syntactic terms.
Chapter 3 is mainly introductory to present the notion of quantity regarding number, determiners,
partitive constructions, and other means.
Chapter 4 offers a descriptive account of the different ways of expressing amount by means of
number (1) in nouns (singular vs. plural and countable vs. uncountable nouns), (2) numerals
(cardinal, ordinal), and (3) pronouns.
Chapter 5 will be dedicated to determiners. Chapter 6 accounts for specific quantitative partitive
constructions. Chapter 7 deals with other means of expressing quantity.
Chapter 8 provides an educational framework for the expression of quantity within the curriculum.
Chapter 9 draws a conclusion for all the points involved in this study. Finally in Chapter 10
bibliography will be listed.

2. A Theoretical Framework for the Notion of Quantity

This introductory chapter aims at answering questions such as where the notion of quantity is to
be found within the linguistic level, what it describes and how and which grammar categories are
involved in its description.
2.1. Linguistic Levels involved in the Notion of Quantity
The usual description of a language comprises four major components: phonology, grammar,
lexicon, and semantics, out of which we get five major levels: phonological, morphological and
syntactic, lexical and semantic.
Phonology deals with pronunciation of singular and plural forms (ex: bus/buses); morphology
deals with plural markers (ex: -s, -es); syntax deals with the establishment of rules that specify
which combinations of words constitute grammatical strings and which do not (ex: determiner +
noun); lexis deals with the expression of amount by means of idioms (ex: stubborn as a mule),
verb choices (ex: rain vs. pour), adverbial expressions (ex: speaking loud), or partitive
constructions (ex: a piece of furniture); and finally, semantics deals with meaning where syntactic
and morphological levels do not tell the difference (ex: “You are here” – you, 2 nd person singular or
you, 2nd person plural).
2.2. On Defining Quantity: What and How
The aim of this section is to define the term “quantity” by linking the notion of quantity (what it is) to
the grammar categories which express it (how it is showed). The notion of quantity refers to the
“number” or the “amount of” items we are dealing with, and it is the answer to questions such as
How much…? and How many…?. Obviously, they both ask for similar information, except for a
specific difference about the “exact amount of”, which can be definite (ex: one, two), indefinite (ex:
some, any), or other means.
Answers are directly drawn from different sources, such as nouns (ex: one book, two books),
pronouns (ex: nobody, everybody, somebody), determiners (ex: a, the, my, some, every, each), or
verbs (ex: shout vs. scream), and also from other grammatical structures such as partitive
constructions (ex: a glass of milk) or idioms (ex: she is as cold as a cucumber) among other
means. All these expressions play their role in a linguistic description in terms of function, within a
larger linguistic structure (ex: subject, object, determiner, and so on), and category or class (ex:
noun, adjective, verb and so on).
Both function and word class are relevant for our purposes since we must examine the expression
of quantity through them. These expressions can be grouped together into word classes (also
called parts of speech) following morphological and syntactic rules.
Since the expression of quantity deals with nouns, let us examine first their nature in
morphological and syntactic terms before describing other categories involved in it.
2.3. Grammar Categories: Open vs. closed Classes
In order to confine the notion of quantity to particular grammatical categories, we must review first
the difference between open and closed classes. The open classes are verbs, nouns, adjectives
and adverbs, and are said to be unrestricted since they allow the addition of new members to their
membership, whereas the closed classes are the rest: prepositions, conjunctions, articles
(definite and indefinite), numerals, pronouns, quantifiers, and interjections, which belong to a
restricted class since they do not allow the creation of new members.
When expressing quantity, it is very often possible to replace open classes by an equivalent
expression of another class (ex: indefinite pronoun in a variety of functions: subject (noun), object
(pronoun) or predicative (determiner).

3. The Expression of Quantity

As stated before, the aim of this section is to define the term “quantity” by linking the notion of
quantity (what it is) to the grammar categories which express it (how it is showed), I will offer a
descriptive approach to the possible answers to questions such as How much…? and How
many…? In a wide variety of expressions (definite, indefinite, partitive constructions, or idioms).
The study will be primarily based on the notion of number, since singular and plural categories are
the original markers for quantity.
So, the expression of quantity will be first examined through the category of number.

4. In Terms of Number
In order to describe quantity in terms of number, we must relate this notion to the general term
“noun”, which is applied to a grammatically distinct word class in a language having the properties
of, first, denote persons, concrete objects, abstractions, second, function as subject or object in a
clause, and third, the most important property for our present purposes, that is, the class to which
the categories of number, gender and case have their primary application in languages.
In this section, we will find three main headings regarding the expression of number, first, in
nouns: second, in numerals; and third, in pronouns.
4.1. In Nouns
Number, in English, applies both to nouns and (in combination with person) to verbs, so they we
may contrast, The dog bites and The dogs bite. As far as English is concerned, number is
evidently an important category for the characterization of nouns, whereas gender and case are
not: they apply only a very few nouns of the pronoun subclass. Moreover, in English, the three
most important properties of nouns concern their function, their dependents and their inflection.
(1) Regarding their function, nouns usually occupy the head position in the structure of
Nominal Phrases (NPs). (2) Regarding dependents, nouns take a different range of
dependents than other words, among which the most distinctive are: determiners (ex: the,
a, my, which, some, this, etc); adjectives as pre-head modifiers; and restrictive relative
clauses (ex: who, which, whose, etc). An finally, (3) regarding inflection, and the most
relevant to us, nouns enter into inflectional contrast of number, singular vs. plural.
The inflectional contrasts of number are directly related to the four main subclasses of noun,
common nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, and cardinal numerals. Regarding nouns, they are
divided into proper and common nouns. The former cannot be preceded by articles, numerals and
quantifiers whereas the latter can.
Common nouns may take a further sub-classification into count vs. noncount nouns (also called
“countable” vs. “uncountable/mass”) and a further, but no so relevant, semantic distinction
expressed by concrete vs. abstract nouns.
Let us examine the properties of number in nouns regarding (1) singular vs. plural, (2) count vs.
noncount expressions of amount.
Singular vs. Plural
Singular relates to the quantity one for count nouns, to the unique referent for most proper nouns,
and to undifferentiated amount for noncount nouns whereas plural relates to the quantity more
than one for count nouns, to the unique referent for some proper nouns (ex: the Canaries = the
Canary Islands), and to individual operational units that reflect plural composition (ex: scissors,
outskirts, stairs).
Within the term “plural” we include different types:
A. Variable vs. Invariable plurals
A.1. Variable plurals: we 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 (a) sound and (b) spelling.
Regarding (a) sound, the plural of a noun is usually made by adding -s to the singular, which is
the unmarked form, and is regularly realized in three ways at the phonological level: first, /s/ after
bases ending in voiceless sounds except sibilants (ex: books, roofs, lips, hats); second, /z/ after
bases ending in voiced sounds except sibilants (ex: trees, bars, days, beds, dogs); and third, /iz/
after bases ending in sibilant (ex: horses /s/, noises /z/, churches, bridges).
Regarding (b) spelling, plurals are formed by simply adding -s to the singular (ex: cat-cats, girl-
girls). Other regular plurals add -es in nouns ending in -z, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x and -o (ex: waltzes,
gases, dresses, wishes, matches, boxes and tomatoes). At the sound level, all of them get an
extra syllable /iz/ when pronounce, except for those words ending in -o (ex: echoes, potatoes),
which are realized as /schwa + s/. Moreover, words of foreign origin or abbreviated words ending
in -o add -s only (ex: dynamo-dynamos, photo-photos, soprano-sopranos).
The spelling –(e)s is found in the following two cases:
- In words ending in a consonant + y, where y changes into i (ex: body-bodies, country-
countries. Words ending in a vowel + y, the plural is formed by adding -s.
- There is a change in the words ending in -f, where the f of the base is change into v (ex:
calf-calves, knife-knives).
There are some exceptions to the general pluralization rule which may present some irregularities.
(1) Voicing, which is a change in the base, from voiceless to voiced consonant, when the
regular suffix -s/-es is added (ex: bath – baths, house – houses). This may be reflected in
spelling (ex: knife-knives) or not (ex: mouth-mouths).
(2) Mutation, when a few nouns undergo a change of vowel sound and spelling, “mutation
plurals”, without an ending (ex: foot-feet, louse-lice, tooth-teeth, man-men).
(3) -en plural, pronounced with schwa, involves both, vowel change and an irregular ending
(ex: child-children, ox-oxen, brother-brethren, when used in the sense of “fellow members”).
(4) Zero plurals, which on being unquestionable count, have no difference in form between
singular and plural, when referring to animals in general (ex: sheep, cattle, fish, deer). Zero
plural nouns can be both singular and plural (ex: this sheep is small / all those sheep are
small).
(5) 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 (ex;
let’s compare: formulas (general) and formulae (in mathematics). Numerous nouns adopted
from foreign languages, especially Latin and Greek, still retain the foreign inflection for
plural:
- From Latin: (a) nouns in -us /schwa+s/ with plural -I /ai/ (ex: stimulus-stimuli, fungus-fungi)
- (b) nouns in -us /schwa+s/ with plural -a /schwa/ for technical use (ex: corpus-corpora)
- © nouns in -a with plural -ae /i:/ or /ai/ (ex: formula-formulae, diploma-diplomae)
- (d) nouns in -um /schwa+m/ with plural -a /schwa/ (ex: curriculum-curricula, datum-data).
- (e) nouns in -ex, -ix with plural -ices /isi:z/ (ex: appendix, index, matrix)
- From Greek: (f) nouns in -is /is/ with plural -es /i:z/ (basis-bases, thesis-theses in opposition
to regular plurals in -ises (ex: metropolis)
- (g) nouns in -on /schwa+n/ with plural -a /schwa/ (ex: criterion-criteria) in contrast to regular
plurals as in demon, electron, neutron, proton.
- From French: (h) nouns in -e(a)u with plural in -s or -x sometimes retain a French plural in
writing but a regular English pronunciation /z/ in speech. They are pronounced with a final
vowel in the singular and with a regular /z/ in the plural (ex: bureau-bureaux)
 - From Italian: (i) nouns in -o /schwa+u/ with plural in -I /i/ (ex: tempo-tempi, virtuoso-virtuosi).
Compare with soprano, only regular plural. Musicians usually prefer Italian plural forms for
Italian musical terms, although regular English endings are also possible (ex: tempo-
tempos).
- From Hebrew: (j) where the foreign plural is -im added to the noun base (ex: kibbutz-
kibbutzim, and similarly the usual regular cherub, seraph).
A.2. Invariable Plurals: we may distinguish invariable singular vs. invariable plural nouns which
are resistant to number contrast, since there are singular nouns that cannot ordinarily be plural
(ex: meat, sugar) and plural nouns that cannot ordinarily be singular (ex: binoculars, sunglasses).
Within invariable singular, which take a singular verb, we distinguish five main types:
(1) Concrete noncount nouns (ex: cheese, gold, furniture)
(2) Abstract noncount nouns (ex: homework, music, solidarity)
(3) Some proper nouns (ex: Shakespeare, Monday, Christmas)
(4) Nouns ending in -s are particular words (ex: news), some diseases (measles, mumps), names
in -ics (ex: Physics, classics, phonetics), some games (ex: bowls, dominoes) and finally
(5) Some proper nouns (ex: Brussels, Athens, Wales) or collective nouns (ex: committee, council,
team).
Within invariable plural, we distinguish five main types as well:
(1) Summation plurals (binary nouns), which refer to entities which comprise or are perceived
as comprising two parts such as tools, instruments, or articles of dress (ex: scissors,
tweezers, shorts, tights). Countability is usually achieved through quantity partition, “a pair
of”, “several pairs of”.
(2) Pluralia tantum in -s are nouns that only occur in the plural and refer to entities which
comprise or are perceived of comprising an indefinite number of parts (ex: communications
= means of communication, arms = weapons, customs = customs duty, goods = a goods
train). With some items there is a vacillation between singular and plural since when they
have no -s, there is a change in meaning (ex: cloth-clothes, brain-brains).
(3) Some proper nouns are pluralized when a title applies to more than one succeeding name
(ex: the Kennedys, the two Germanys).
(4) We also find unmarked plural nouns which are not plural in form and emerge from some
pluralia tantum (ex: The data is/are useful, and similarly cattle, clergy, people, police).
(5) And finally, some personal adjectival heads of human nature (ex: the rich, the young)
Compound nouns form the plural in different ways: adding plural in the first element (ex: passer-
by, passers-by); in both first and last element (ex: manservant, menservants) and the most usual
way, adding plural in the last element (ex: boyfriend, boyfriends; grown-up, grown-ups). Initials can
be made plural (ex: MPs = Members of Parliament, VIPs = very important persons).
Count vs. Noncount
The term “count” refers to an “individual interpretation of an item” from a larger set of units that
could be counted, that is, individual countable entities (ex: table, building, tree, car), whereas
“noncount” refers to an “undelimited” interpretation of a substance (liquid or solid) rather than a
unit, that is, an undifferentiated mass (ex: sand, soap, jam, water, air).
There is a considerable degree of overlap between abstract and noncount nouns, as in difficulty –
difficulties (ex: He’s not had much difficulty – non-count – vs. He’s had many difficulties –
countable -).
Regarding count and non-count main features, we may say that countable nouns are easily
detected because of plural forms, and that uncountable nouns are reflected in general abstract
terms such as (1) names of substances (ex: bread, beer, gold, oil); (2) abstract nouns (ex: advice,
courage, experience, fear, information); (3) other nouns considered countable in other languages
(ex: baggage, camping, damage, furniture, weather). Another feature of uncountable nouns is that
they are always singular and are not used with indefinite articles, but often preceded by quantifiers
like some, any, no, a little (ex: I don’t want (any) advice; I want (some) information).
A plural identifies a count interpretation, as well as numerals, quantifiers (many, few, several), and
definite or indefinite articles. With singular nouns, the determiners one, a, another, each, every,
either, neither force a count interpretation (let’s compare another/every cake with enough/some
cake). A singular common noun without any determiner will normally take a non-count
interpretation (ex: He drinks whisky). It should be borne in mind that the majority of nouns can be
used with either kind of interpretation when using partitive constructions (ex: a piece of, an item of,
a bottle of, a loaf of, and so on).
4.2. In Numerals
The expression of quantity by means of numerals is given by three sets: cardinal numbers (ex:
one, two, three, etc.) which give the exact amount of something by means of whole numbers,
ordinal numbers (ex: first, second, third, etc.) which express the sequence order of items, and
fractions. Since cardinal numbers lie at the periphery between the noun and determinative
classes, it will be more convenient to leave them for consideration in subsequent chapters, under
the definition of quantifying pronouns. For now, I will concentrate on their main features.
Cardinal numbers have uses in which they are nouns, notably those where they carry the plural
inflection (ex: They went out in twos/threes). One major use is as determiner in a noun phrase
(NP) structure (ex: one mistake, thirty-five apples). In some way, they have affinities with
determiners, and they may occur in the plural (ex: thousands of people). The ordinal numbers, on
the other hand, are basically adjectives, having both attributive and predicative uses (ex: he was
the third person in the queue/he was third in the queue. They co-occur, except for first, only with
count nouns, and they usually precede any cardinal number in the noun phrase (ex: the first three
planes were Italian). Fractions are noun phrases with the structure of determiner + noun. Note the
inflectional number contrast in the noun (ex: one third/two thirds).
Some general considerations on these three particular expressions of number are: (1) Both types,
cardinal and ordinal, can function pronominally or as premodifiers, except nought (Br.E.)/zero
(Am.E.).
(2) This figure “0” is called “nought”, oh, zero, and nil. We say “nought” when it occurs chiefly 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 (pronounce as the letter “o”), and also
when saying figures separately, as in telephone numbers, post codes, address numbers. Then,
figures are pronounced in groups of three or four, but not in groups of two as in Spanish. When
used to refer to temperature, we must use “zero”, for both British and American English (ex: it is
zero degrees Celsius), and we say “nil” when talking about games, sports, and scores (ex: they
won four – nil).
(3) Pronominally, the ordinals are preceded by an article (ex: Today is the eleventh of June) and
resemble superlatives with ellipted heads. Ordinals are used when talking about fractions and
decimals (ex: 1/6 = one sixth; 2/5 = two fifths) or when expressing order or priority (ex: He was the
first one to cross the line).
(4) Finally, cardinals and ordinals not only provide the notion of quantity, but also singular and
plural measurements in fractions and decimals with the structure “of a + singular noun (ex: two
sixths of a centimetre) or “decimals + plural noun (ex: 2.8 millimetres = two point eight millimetres).
4.3. In Pronouns
Pronouns, in general, share several features, such as not to admit determiners, to have case,
gender and number distinction, and not to have singular and plural forms morphologically related.
Pronouns fall into the following classification: (1) specific pronouns within which we find (a)
central pronouns (personal, reflexive, reciprocal, and possessive), (b) relative pronouns, (c)
interrogative pronouns, and (d) demonstrative pronouns. Within (2) indefinite pronouns, we find
(a) universal pronouns, (b) partitive pronouns (assertive, non-assertive, and negative), and (c)
quantifying pronouns, also called quantifiers.
Specific Pronouns
Central Pronouns
Central pronouns are divided into (1) personal, (2) reflexive, (3) reciprocal, and (4) possessive.
(1) Personal pronouns display a person contrast, that is, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person forms which
show gender contrast (feminine, masculine, and nonpersonal), case contrast (subjective,
objective) and finally, relevant for our present purposes number contrast (singular, plural).
Following Greenbaum & Quirk (1990), number has to be treated separately for each of the three
persons of pronouns. With the third person (he, she/they): first person (I/we); with second person
there is a number contrast in the reflexive pronoun (yourself/yourselves).
(2) Reflexive pronouns, also called self-pronouns, are marked for person and number, but not
for case, and they are always coreferential with a noun or another pronoun, agreeing with it
in gender, number and person (ex: Veronica herself saw the accident.
(3) Reciprocal pronouns bring together two sentences with a reciprocal structure somewhat
similar to a reflexive (ex: David and Paula like each other/one another). One another is
sometimes preferred to each other when reference is made to more than two.
(4) Possessive pronouns, with them we can distinguish the categories of person (first,
second, third), gender (in the 3rd person singular only), and number (except for the 2 nd
person). There are two subclasses of possessive pronouns according to their function:
dependent and independent. Those which function dependently as determiners in the
structure of the noun phrase (ex: this is my bicycle) or as independent items (ex: this
bicycle is mine).
Relative pronouns are not relevant for our present purposes.
Interrogative pronouns do not show number contrast, except for the distinction between
“What/Which cars do you like best?” where “which” implies the choice from a limited number of
known cars whereas “what” implies a choice from a non-specified indefinite number of cars.
Demonstrative Pronouns
They do show number contrast and can function both as determiners and pronouns: this and that
(singular), these and those (plural). This/These refer to what is near, That/Those to what is remote
(ex: Is this book yours? – Who is that lovely girl? – These photos are the best – Were those Mary’s
children?)
Indefinite Pronouns
Regarding indefinite pronouns, we find (1) universal pronouns, (2) partitive pronouns (assertive,
non-assertive and negative), and (3) quantifying pronouns.
Universal Pronouns
In order to examine universal pronouns, we must 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. Those words
are used to express “totality”.
Among their main grammatical features, we can mention that “every” and its compounds, despite
their singular form, have collective reference, and “every” entails reference to a number of three or
(usually) more. Also, since universal pronouns denote people, they can take genitive suffixes as in
everybody’s car. Regarding “each”, it may appear alone or as a pronoun, but it is common to find
the expression “each one”. “Both” and “all” are used for count nouns in plural. “All” is also used for
non-count nouns and “both” refers to dual number. They may appear medially with plural
reference (ex: They both/all are quite intelligent), referring to two people. In very formal style, “all”
is used to mean “everybody” (ex: All those who speak Italian), and is also used in negative
constructions (ex: Not all the people speak Italian here).
Partitive Pronouns
Partitive pronouns are considered to be parallel to the universal pronouns, where we have three
sets of partitive pronouns with associated determiners (every, all, both, a(n), some, any, either,
neither, none, no): (1) assertive partitive indefinites, (2) non-assertive partitive indefinites, and (3)
negative partitive indefinites.
(1) Assertive Partitives Indefinites express a positive but uncertain number identity. They are
used pronominally in affirmative sentences, where some and any have clear contextual
reference to a noun phrase (ex: Somebody came yesterday, He saw nothing). The
assertive pronoun somebody refer to people (personal) in count nouns (ex: Somebody
came yesterday) whereas somewhere and something refer to places and things,
respectively (non-personal) in count nouns as well (ex: My bag must be somewhere; I saw
something strange).
“Some” is used for plural count and non-count nouns, both personal and non-personal (ex: You
need some lawyers/water) whereas “several” is only used for plural count nouns, again personal
and non-personal (ex: You have several children/houses). When “some” is used to talk about an
uncertain or indefinite quantity (ex: Would you like some sugar?), it is pronounced with the weak
form, with schwa. Although “some” is used in interrogative form here, its basic meaning is still
assertive. It may appear in this way in negative, interrogative or conditional sentences as well.
However, when used as a pronoun (ex: I already have some), it is pronounced with a strong
form /s^m/. This strong form is given in three more situations: (a) when it is used with singular
count nouns to suggest “lack of interest”; (b) in contrast to “others”, “all”, or “enough” (ex: Some
people like news, others do not); (c) when it appears with a number to impress, meaning “about”
(ex: He stole some ten million dollars)
(2) Non-assertive partitive indefinites express two ideas at the time, but still an uncertain
number identity since the basic meaning is negative. The contexts which require the any
series involve (a) the negatives not, never, no, neither, nor; (b) the “incomplete” negatives
hardly, little, few, least, seldom, etc.; (c) the “implied” negatives reluctant, hard, difficult, and
comparisons with too; and (d) negative, interrogative and conditional sentences.
In negative and interrogative sentences, we have anyone and anybody for singular personal count
nouns (ex: I didn’t see anybody) and anything for singular non-personal count nouns (ex: She
didn’t buy anything). In plural, for count nouns in general, any (as some) is used for non-count as
well (ex: She had no bananas/idea). Since any is the negative counterpart of some, we may find it
functioning as a pronoun (ex: Did you find the pepper? – No, I didn’t find any).
 (3) 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 non-count nouns. Regarding their use, we must point out
three main uses; (a) they may function as pronouns (ex: None/neither passed the driving
test); (b) they may refer to a singular or plural noun mentioned before (ex: She bought lots
of clothes and I bought none); (c) they may be followed by an of-partitive, which is typical of
the indefinites which have both a pronoun and a determiner where the final part is a
personal pronoun/noun preceded by a definite determiner (ex: Neither of the students/them
came to the party).
Both as pronouns and as determiners, either and neither have in fact a strictly dual reference (ex:
Neither of the two/Either student may fail the exam).
Quantifying Pronouns
Also called quantifiers, this type of pronouns refers to the increase or decrease of “the totality, lack
of, or partial amount” of something. They may be classified into three main subclasses: (1)
quantifiers which can only function as pronouns (ex: Someone must laugh now), (2) quantifiers
which can function both as a pronoun and as a determiner (ex: Some of the boys are orphans),
and (3) quantifiers which function as determiners only (ex: Every politician is responsible for our
society).
(1) Quantifiers which can only function as pronouns are the universal and partitive pronouns,
thus someone, somebody, something; anyone, anybody, anything; everybody, everyone,
everything; and no one, nobody, nothing and none. Some examples will show how they
function as the head of a noun phrase, functioning as universal pronouns: “I seem to have
forgotten everything” and “None of the girls has/have been invited”. The word none has
pronominal characteristics in that it can serve as a substitute for plural count nouns and
non-count nouns (ex: John has got lots of friends but I’ve got none; We asked for petrol but
they had none).
Numerals are included in this type, and in particular, cardinal numbers since they give the exact
number of count nouns. It is relevant here to establish the difference between two similar cardinal
numerals: a/an vs. one. Regarding the uses of “one” as the main marker for singular, it has three
main features: (a) the so-called numerical one, when used with animate and inanimate singular
count nouns. It is a stressed variant of the indefinite article a(n). (b) Another feature is the
replacive one, used an anaphoric substitute for a singular or plural count noun (ex: I have a
beautiful table – Is it like this one?). It has the singular form one and the plural ones. It can take
determiners and modifiers (not usually possessives or plural demonstratives). It may also be
modified by the -s genitive (I prefer Peter’s car to Charles’s one). (c) The last feature refers to an
indefinite one which means “people in general”, implying inclusion of the speaker (ex: One could
do it easily). It has the genitive one’s and the reflexive oneself (ex: It is one’s problems).
(2) Quantifiers which can function both as pronouns and as determiners are divided into two
types: first, enumerative quantifiers for singular and count nouns (a, an, one, 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).
We will include in this type the following quantifiers, functioning both as pronouns and determiners:
some, any, each, all, both, either, neither; much, many (more, most); little, less, least; few, fewer,
fewest; plenty of, a lot of, lots of, a great deal of; enough, and several (ex: Each student should
have an exam; So far, I have discovered few mistakes; and Much of what he said is irrelevant).
Regarding many and much, they both usually appear in questions and negatives. In order to get a
formal style, they appear in affirmative sentences using synonymous expressions, called phrasal
quantifiers, such as “a great deal of” or “a large number of + plural noun” or “a large amount of +
singular noun”. 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 when combined with “too”, “so”, or “as” to provide a
negative feeling to the “amount of” under consideration. For instance, “too many children were at
home yesterday” implies a negative connotation to the sentence as well as “so many children that
I couldn’t sleep”. “Many” may be used predicatively, together with “few”, in formal style (ex: His
faults were many/few).
Similarly, “few” or “a few” or “several” are used with count nouns whereas “little” and “a little”, or “a
little of” occur with noncount nouns, in singular. When comparing “few” and “little”, we find a
positive/negative contrast depending on whether the definite article is used or not. For instance,
when using the article “a few biscuits” or “a little butter”, they have a positive meaning, thus
“several biscuits” and “some butter”. However, when no article is placed before, they mean
respectively “not many biscuits” and “not much butter”, with a negative meaning.
Several is always used with plural count nouns (ex: He had several lovers). The quantifier enough
is used with both count and noncount nouns (ex: There are (not) enough chairs/There is (not)
enough wine). Moreover “each” operates with singular reference (ex: Each member was pressed
to vote) and is targeted on the individual among the totality whereas “all” and “both” make plural
and dual universal reference (ex: Both men were arrested). Syntactically speaking, the three of
them may appear medially (ex: The cars were all for export).
“Neither” is used with singular verbs (ex: Neither parent realized what was going on) and its
opposite is “either”, meaning “one or the other” (occasionally meaning “both”). With “either we only
use a singular noun (ex: Either room is ok). Finally, I will mention the comparatives much, more,
most; little, less, least; and few, fewer, fewest where “more” refers to count and noncount nouns,
“less” only noncount, and “fewer” only count nouns. There are other words, grammatically and
semantically related to cardinal and ordinal numbers, such as next, last, and (an)other.
(3) Quantifiers that function as determiners only. To this subclass belong every and no, as in
(ex: Everybody has its rights, and, He has no money and no prospects). This will be dealt
with in next section.

5. Regarding Determiners
There are three classes of determiners regarding the expression of quantity, and therefore
number. Thus, predeterminers, central determiners, and post-determiners since they co-occur with
the noun classes; singular count, plural count, and noncount nouns.
The function determiner marking number can be realized by a wide range of items, such as: the
definite article, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, numerals, and certain indefinite
pronouns marking number. These comprise words such as each, all, both, no and the every
compounds (count nouns) and all, none (noncount).
5.1. Predeterminers
Predeterminers form a class mutually exclusive, preceding central determiners with which they
can co-occur. It is relevant to distinguish two subsets: (1) all, both, half, and (2) the multipliers.
 (1) Regarding all, both, half, they have in common the positive characteristics of being able to
occur before the articles, the demonstratives, and the possessives (ex: all/both/half
the/these/our students). However, they do not occur before determiners that themselves
entail quantification: every, each, (n)either, some, any, no, enough.
On an individual description, the items “all” and “half” occur with plural count nouns and with
noncount nouns, as in all the book/all the music and all books/all music, and half the book(s)/half
the music. Of the mentioned items, “half” is the only one that can be followed by the indefinite
article or numerals (ex: half an hour). “Both” occurs with plural count nouns, as in both the
books/both books.
(2) Regarding 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 nouns (ex: four times Peter’s salary, twice this sum).

5.2. Central Determiners

Central determiners include the definite and indefinite articles as their commonest determiners
since their distribution is dependent upon the class of the accompanying noun (singular or plural).
There is the definite article the and two indefinite articles a and zero marker the former occurring
with singular count nouns, its zero analogue with noncount and plural count nouns.
Like the definite and indefinite article, there are several other determiners that can cooccur equally
with singular count, plural count, and noncount nouns: (a) the demonstrative pronouns (this, that,
those, these); (b) the possessive pronouns (my, our, your, his, her, its, their); (c) the relative
pronouns (which, what, whose) as in “Which house do you prefer?”; (d) specifying genitive (ex: all
Peter’s clothes). (e) Other items include the negative determiner no (ex: He has no car), the
universal determiners every and each (ex: We need to interview every/each student), the non-
assertive/negative dual determiners either and neither (ex: Parking is not permitted on either side
of the street/Parking is permitted on neither side of the street), the general assertive determiner
some (ex: I would like some bread), the general non-assertive determiner any (ex: We haven’t any
bread), the quantitative determiner enough (ex: We have enough bread). And the quantitative
much (ex: We have much bread) among others.
5.3. Post-Determiners
Post-determiners take their place immediately after determiners just as predeterminers take their
place before determiners. They include cardinal and ordinal numbers, next, last; few, fewer,
fewest; little, less, least; many, more, most; other, own, same, such. Post-determiners fall into two
classes: ordinals (first, fourth, last, other) and quantifiers (cardinal numbers, many, few, plenty of,
a lot of).
I will illustrate their use by means of some examples:
- Seven days, one more drink; the first two pages; the next few days, the last two weeks;
- Few other people, little more news; many more accidents; (many) other problems,
- My own car, the same man.

6. Partitive Constructions
Both count and noncount nouns can enter constructions denoting part of a whole. It is a means of
imposing number on noncount nouns, since the partition is generally expressed by a count noun of
partitive meaning, such as “piece” or “sort”, which can be singular or plural followed by an of-
phrase.
 6.1. Of-Partitives
I will revise singular count partition, plural count partition, and noncount partition:
(1) Regarding singular count partition, we include each of, one of, any of, either of, none of,
neither of (the students).
(2) With plural count partition, we include all of, both of, some of, many of, more of, most of, (a)
few of, fewer/fewest of (our supporters)
(3) With noncount partition, we distinguish all of, some of, a great deal of, much of, more of,
most of, (a) little of, less of, least of, any of, none of (Vivaldi’s music)
Cardinal numbers are used in of-partitives (ex: three of my friends are coming). So too ordinals,
and these can be used with both count and noncount expressions (ex: One third of his books were
burnt). With “half” (ex: I saw half of the show).
6.2. Quantity Partition
Quantity partition is to be divided into (1) noncount nouns, (2) plural count nouns concerning
specific sets of nouns, and (3) singular count nouns. Quantity partitives may be expressions of
precise measure (ex: a yard of cloth, two kilos of potatoes), and also of fractional partition (ex: He
ate a quarter of that cake).
(1) Regarding 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/god number of.
Other typical partitives can be used very generally when talking about noncount nouns, referring to
“little bits of” concerning measures, a pint of beer, a spoonful of medicine, a pound of butter, a
slice of cake/bread/meat, a few loaves of bread, a bowl of soup, a bottle of wine, a cup of coffee, a
packet of sugar. General partitives may also be included, as in two pieces/a bit/an item of
news/information/furniture.
(2) 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 pair of scissors.
(3) Regarding singular count nouns, we find a piece of a leather belt, a page of a book, two
acts of a play.

6.3. Quality Partition

Quality partition is expressed most commonly with kind, sort, and type, both with count and
noncount nouns. Thus, when dealing with count nouns, we find a new kind of computer, several
new kinds of computers. Similarly, with noncount nouns, we find a delicious kind of bread/some
delicious kinds of bread. Other quality partitives include variety.

7. Regarding Other Means

Other means of expressing quantity may be drawn from:
(1) Semantic choice of verb, we may increase or decrease the “amount of” the item implied in
our speech by means of using different verbal choices, as for instance, the contrast
between rain vs. pour, run vs. rush.
(2) Within adverbial phrases, we may increase or decrease the notion of quantity by using
certain adverbs in a sentence, such as the so-called frequency adverbs. Let’s compare the
 sentences “I always go swimming four times a week” (100% frequency) vs. “I never go
swimming” (0% frequency).
(3) Certain idiomatic expressions may imply a relevant difference in quantity, both concrete or
abstract. For instance, compare “She is very sensitive” vs. “She is cold as ice”.

8. Educational Implications
The various aspects of the expression of quantity dealt with in this study are relevant to the
learning of the vocabulary of a foreign language since differences between the vocabulary of the
learner’s native language (L1) and that of the foreign language (L2) may lead to several problems,
such as the incorrect use of quantity expressions, especially because of the relevant differences
between countable and uncountable nouns in English, still problematic for Spanish students of
English.
This study has looked at the expressions of quantity within lexical semantics, morphology and
syntax to stablish a relative similarity between the two languages that Spanish – speaking
students would find useful for learning English if these connections were brought to their attention.
An adult Spanish ESL student generally perceives that there is a great distance from Spanish to
English, but a realization of how many words there are in common between current Spanish and
English can offer a learner a “bridge” to the new language.
It has been suggested that a methodology grounded in part in the application of explicit linguistic
knowledge enhances the second language learning process.
So far, I have attempted in this discussion to provide a broad account of the expression of quantity
between Spanish and English that I hope prove successful and complete.

9. Conclusion
Although the questions How much? and How many? May appear simple, they imply a broad
description f the means that make an appropriate answer suitable for students and teachers. I
have provided a descriptive account of the Expression of Quantity in this unit, whose main aim
was to introduce the student to the different ways of expressing quantity in English. The study
provided a broad account of the notion of quantity, starting by a theoretical framework to get some
key terminology on the issue.
Once the notion of quantity was presented, I discussed how number, determiners, partitive
constructions, and other means reflected this notion.
Lexical items and vocabulary, and therefore, the expression of quantity, is currently considered to
be a central element in communicative competence and in the acquisition of a second language.
The teaching of quantity expressions comprises four major components in our educational
curriculum: phonology, grammar, lexicon, and semantics, out of which we get five major levels;
phonological, morphological and syntactic, lexical and semantic.
For our students to express quantity properly, they must have a good knowledge at all these
levels. First, on phonology which describes the sound level. Second, since the two most basic
units of grammar are the word and the sentence, they must have good grammatical knowledge,
which involves the morphological level and the syntactic level. Third, the lexical level lists
vocabulary items, that is, different items to express quantity, specifying how they are pronounced,
how they behave grammatically, and what they mean. Finally, the semantic level to which all four
of the major components are related, specially for those ways of expressing quantity such as
verbal choice or adverbial expressions.
The expression of quantity proves highly frequent in our everyday speech, and consequently, we
must encourage our students to have a good managing of it.

10. Bibliography
 Council of Europe (1998) Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A
Common European Framework of Reference.
 Quirk & Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English
 Thomson, A.J. & Martinet, A.V. A Practical English Grammar
 Leech & Svartvik, A Communicative Grammar of English