12.

7 Quantifiers with of and the

Quantifiers with of and the.

[00:00:02] In this section we have been looking at a lot of terms that describe quantity. Some,
all, any, none and others. After these terms we can sometimes put 'of' and 'the.'

[00:00:13] They're used to describe the quantity of a place thing group or people, but not
always! So let's look at when we do use them, of and the, and when we don't!

[00:00:25] General or specific.

[00:00:27] The first thing we have to ask ourselves is if we're describing something generally or
specifically? Here are some examples, and if you have trouble with this, watching the articles
lectures will also help clarify!

[00:00:39] Children don't respect their elders.

[00:00:41] Here, I am talking about all children in the world. I am saying that in today's modern
world, all kids tend to disrespect people who are older than them. I am generalizing. Talking
about no children in particular.

[00:00:56] The children in this family don't respect their elders.

[00:00:59] Now. I am talking about a specific group of children. The children who are part of this
family. The tells us immediately that it is not general. This is specific.

[00:01:11] You need money to survive.

[00:01:13] This is a general truth. It applies to everyone in the world. Money is necessary. What
money? All of it! It is so general! It's the idea of money, not anything specific, or for any specific
purpose.

[00:01:27] I forgot my wallet. So I don't have the money to pay for lunch.

[00:01:31] What money is being discussed? We are talking about the money necessary to pay
for this food, and it's missing! This money is for one specific purpose. Paying for lunch. It's the
cost of the bill the waiter gave us.

[00:01:44] Quantifier plus a general noun.

[00:01:46] We use all any most some and other quantifiers followed by a general noun. So no of
and no the. Because it's with a general noun. These are more general statements that are
applied much more largely, not focusing on a specific or defined group. And here are some
examples.

[00:02:03] Some teachers are better than others.

[00:02:06] I'm not focusing on any teacher in particular. I'm talking about any type of teacher,
teaching any subject anywhere in the world. It is very general.

[00:02:15] Many bosses mistreat their employees.

[00:02:18] I'm not talking about my boss. I'm saying that many bosses in many parts of the world
are like this. They are not nice to their employees. It's a general assertion. A general truth that I
believe in as the speaker.

[00:02:31] Any city can reduce its pollution.

[00:02:33] What city am I talking about? We have no idea which city I'm talking about. In fact,
I'm referring to all cities in the world because of how general this statement is. Any possible
number of cities. Any city.

[00:02:47] Quantifiers with of and the.

[00:02:49] But when we're discussing specific thing, people and places, we need to use more
specific language. So we can use of followed by the definite article the, or determiners, like this
or my, to talk about specific things. Let's turn our previous general examples into specific
examples now.

[00:03:08] Some teachers are better than others becomes.

[00:03:11] Some of the teachers at this school are better than others.

[00:03:15] I am now talking about a specific group of teachers. The teachers at this school. And
some of them are better than other teachers at the school.

[00:03:23] Many bosses mistreat their employees.

[00:03:26] Many of the bosses in the US mistreat their employees.

[00:03:31] Before we were talking about this happening anywhere in the world without being
specific at all. Now, we have more detail. We're talking about many of the bosses in the US. And
remember we don't have to use the, If they are bosses I have worked for, I can say many of my
bosses mistreat their employees. Or if I heard stories about a company with bad bosses, I can
say many of those bosses at that company mistreat their employees.

[00:03:57] Any city can reduce its pollution becomes.

[00:04:00] Any of these cities in New York can reduce their pollution.

[00:04:03] We use these because we're talking about a specific group of cities in the state of
New York. It's possible for any one of them to do it!

[00:04:12] All of versus all the.

[00:04:15] With the quantifier all, you have two options when talking about specific places,
people or things. You can say all of the something or all the something.

[00:04:25] All the books in this library are outdated.

[00:04:27] All these lights are the wrong size.

[00:04:30] All of these lights are the wrong size.

[00:04:32] The meaning is exactly the same and you can choose to use of or not.

[00:04:37] Using of and an object pronoun.

[00:04:39] If you don't want to repeat the specific thing, person or place you're talking about,
you can replace them with object pronouns. These object pronouns are me him her it you us
them. But in this construction, dealing with quantity, we will only use it us you and them.

[00:04:59] All of the books in this library are outdated. We should replace all of them.

[00:05:03] All of these lights are the wrong size. It's a bad idea to buy any of them.

[00:05:08] I love that book, but I actually only read some of it.

[00:05:11] No, not everyone is going to attend, but some of us will.