Introduction
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%).
Examples
- I've got a little money.
- I've got a lot of friends.
- Most children start school at the age of five.
- We ate some bread and butter.
- We saw lots of birds.
The table below shows quantifiers that can indicate quantity from 0% to 100%. Notice which ones can be used with countable, uncountable or both:
| |
countable |
uncountable |
| 100% |
all |
| every |
|
| |
most |
| many |
much |
| some |
(a) few
fewest |
(a) little
least |
| any |
| 0% |
no |
How to use?
Like all determiners, quantifiers come at the beginning of a noun phrase, so they come in front of any adjective(s).
Look at these example sentences:
- 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.