English Language Quantifiers

Discuss with your neighbour. Compare the difference between the ingredients on Mary’s recipe and those on John’s.

Mary and John’s egg tart recipes Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour 10 tablespoons of butter 1 cup of white sugar 5 tablespoons of cold water 4 cups of water 10g of brown sugar 3 eggs 12 cups of evaporated milk 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract Ingredients: Some cups all-purpose flour Many tablespoons of butter One cup of sugar Many tablespoons of cold water A few cups of water A little brown sugar Several eggs A lot of cups of evaporated milk A few teaspoons of vanilla extract Quantifiers

Quantifiers What are quantifiers? What do they do? They tell us something about quantity. Quantifiers ≠ numbers E.g. I bought several books yesterday. I bought 5 books yesterday. Quantity Exact amount

The forms of quantifiers: FormsExamples Quantifier + nSome girls Quantifier + adj. + n.Some good girls Quantifier + adv. + adj. + n.Some very good girls

1.countable or uncountable? Quantifiers Which are used with countable nouns Which are used with uncountable nouns Which are used with both Several A few Many Too many Few A bit of A little Much Too much Little Plenty of No Enough Some A lot of Any Loads of Hardly any Not any

Too many / Too much vs. a lot of e.g. I’m full now. I’ve eaten too much. Negative meaning Positive

Is any positive or negative? Positive in most cases. Only negative when accompanied by a negative verb. I haven’t got any money. I have got any money. I have got no money. I didn’t have no money.   It is a double negative!

Warm-up exercise Andy and May are going to Paris. They are discussing what they should put in their suitcase. Fill in the gaps with some, any, too many and too much. May:Honey, that’s far ________________ shirts. There won’t be enough space in the suitcase. Andy:I didn’t take many last year. Remember? Then I had to buy ___________ new ones. May:You won’t have to buy ___________ this year. I’m sure we’ll have enough time to wash clothes while we’re there. too many some any

Warm-up exercise Jacky is going for a picnic tomorrow and now asking for his mum to allow him to bring snacks. Fill in the gaps with some, any, too many and too much. Jacky:Mum, can I bring _____________ potato chips with me? Mum:You can bring _____________ but not ______________. Jacky:Can I bring _____________ chocolate too? Mum:Please, Jacky, don’t bring _______________ chocolate this year. Last year you packed too ______________ and it melted in your bag. some too many some any too much

A few / few / a little / little? Countable or uncountable? A few / Few A few Few A little / Little A little Little countable uncountable +ve -ve

I have ________ pencils in my pencil case. Pencil  Meaning  I have ________ coins in my pocket. Coin  Meaning  a few few countable +ve countable -ve (almost no coins!)

Today is my birthday. I want to try __________ wine. Wine  Meaning  I don’t like learning Putonghua. I really have _______ interest in it. I love English much more! Interest  Meaning  uncountable +ve -ve (almost no interest!) little a little

Warm-up exercise (II) Fill in the blanks with a few, few, a little, and little. Alex is now settling down at his new school. At first, he kept very much to himself and had ______________ to say for himself. He had _____________ friends because he kept silent all the time. He wasn’t really happy. This term is better, though, as he has made some new friends, including ________________ really good friends. little few a few