17 Quantitative Determiners
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Introduction
Determiners are modifiers of nouns. They can provide information about which and how much/many people, things… we are talking about.
Quantitative determiners or quantifiers are used to indicate the quantity of something.
Form
There are no rules to explain how the quantitive determiners are formed. The main quantitative determiners are:
- With countable nouns: both, many, (a) few…
- With uncountable nouns: some, much, (a) little…
Example
- Countable nouns
- There are shops on both sides of the street.
- Not many people visit London every winter.
- Were there only a few people at work?
- Uncountable nouns
- Some people like football and basketball.
- We do not have much time.
- How little sugar is left?
Use
We use quantitative determiners with countable and uncountable nouns to indicate the quantity of something.
Countable nouns:
- Both = One and the other of a pair of things;
- Many = Big amount of separated objects;
- (A) few = Little amount of something.
Uncountable nouns:
- Some = Undefined but considerable amount of something;
- Much = Big amount of a mass;
- (A) little = Small amount of something.
Summary
Quantitative determiners are used to indicate the quantity of something. Different quantitative determiners are used with different nouns.
- Countable nouns, which can be counted easily and using numbers, can take the determiners both, many and (a) few…
- Uncountable nouns, which cannot be counted easily and are considered as a mass, can take the determiners some, much and (a) little…
For example:
— Countable: “Can you buy a few coffees at the bar?” = cups of coffee.
— Uncountable: “Can you buy some coffee at the supermarket?” = coffee in powder.
Coffee can be both countable and uncountable, with a difference in meaning.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.
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