File 9 B Grammar: Quantifiers

A little, a few

The rules:

Affirmative sentences:

A little, a few,  are generally used in affirmative sentences.

Countable and uncountable nouns:

1. A little is used with uncountable nouns (money, bread, water...)
2. A few is used with countable nouns (friends, tables, teachers..)

(See more about countable and uncountable nouns here.)

Meaning:

A little and a few mean: some or enough.

Example:

"I have got a little money" = I have got some money. It's enough for me to do what I want.
"I have got a few friends" = I have got some or enough friends. We meet every day.

Much, many, a lot:

"Much", "many", and "a lot of" indicate a large quantity of something, for example "I have a lot of friends " means I have a large quantity of friends.

Study the examples below:

How much money do you have?	I don't have much money.
	I have a lot.
	I have a lot of money.
How many students are in the classroom?	There aren't many.
	There are a lot.
	There are a lot of/lots of students.

In the interrogative forms we use:

• much with uncountable nouns. (money, bread, water...)
  Example:
  How much money/bread/water...is there?
• many with countable nouns. (students, desks, windows...)
  Example:
  How many students/teachers/desks... are there?

In the negative forms we use:

• much with uncountable nouns. (money, bread, water...)
  Example:
  I don't have much money/bread/water...
• many with countable nouns. (students, desks, windows...)
  Example:
  There aren't many students/teachers/desks...

In the affirmative forms:

In spoken English and informal writing we tend to use:

• a lot, a lot of, lots of with countable and uncountable nouns.
  Example:
  "How many students are there in the classroom?"
  "There are a lot."
  "How many students are there in the classroom?"
  "There are a lot of / lots of students"..

Summary:

Interrogative	Negative	Affirmative
How many books are there?	There aren't many.	There are a lot.
		There are a lot of books.
		There are lots of books.
		There are many books (formal)
How much money do you have?	I don't have much.	I have a lot.
		I have a lot of money.
		I have lots of money.
		I have quite a lot.