Quantifiers: A Few, A Little, Much, Many, A Lot Of, Most, Some, Any, Enough

The function of quantifiers

Quantifiers are used to indicate the quantity of something. Which quantifier you use depends on whether the noun is singular or plural, and countable or uncountable. It also depends on whether the sentence is positive or negative.

Quantifiers in positive sentences

Whether you use ‘some’ or ‘any’ usually depends on whether the sentence is positive or negative, but both of these words can be used for both countable and uncountable nouns. 

Examples:

• Let’s invite some friends over for New Year’s! 
• I bought some cleaning supplies for the house.
• She went to buy some bread.

Quantifiers in negative sentences

Examples:

• We can’t have any friends over this weekend.
• We don’t have any cleaning supplies.
• She couldn’t find any bread.

Quantifiers expressing a large amount

Apart from ‘some’ and ‘any’, there are some quantifiers that can be used for either countable or uncountable nouns, but not both. Let’s have a look at ‘many’ and ‘much’, which express whether there is or isn’t a large amount of something.

Examples:

• I was perturbed that there weren’t many women in the meeting. (Countable)
• Many people prefer content that’s optimised for readability. (Countable)
• There isn’t much coffee left in the pot. (Uncountable)
• You’re making much ado about nothing. (Uncountable) 

Quantifiers expressing a small amount

To express whether there is or isn’t a small amount of something, you can use ‘few’ or ‘little’. Just like ‘many’ and ‘much’, these quantifiers differ based on whether the noun is countable or uncountable. 

Examples:

• Sorry, there are too few of you to run the class. (Countable)
• His decision made little sense to me. (Uncountable)
• I’m going away for a few days. (Countable) 

Little was known about her private life. (Uncountable)

Quantifiers expressing an adequate amount 

Another quantifier is ‘enough’. You can use this to express whether or not there is the right amount of something. 

• Is that enough sugar in your tea?
• Studying the material is not enough, you need to revise it.