Topic 17

Topic 17                   Words of Quantity (Determiners)

These Words of Quantity are used as adjectives when they are placed before a noun.  They are called Adjectives of Quantity.  They are either placed before a countable noun or an uncountable noun.

          Countable Nouns                           Uncountable Nouns       

1.       many                                    1.     much             

2.       few (not many)                      2.     little    (not much)

3.       a few (some)                         3.     a little  (some)

4.       several                                  4.     ----------

5.       a large / small number of        5.     a large / small amount of   

6.       ----------                                6.     a large / small quantity of

7.       ----------                                7.     a great deal of

8.                                        a lot of

9.                                        plenty of

10.                                      some

11.                                      any

12.                                      no

13.                                      none of

14.                                      enough

15.                                      all 

(No. 8 – 15 can be used for both Countable and Uncountable Nouns.)

1.  ‘Many’ is used with plural nouns----------cars, erasers, pens

     ‘Much’ is used with uncountable nouns -----water, petrol, sand

              I have many friends. 

              She does not have much money with her now.   (not ---- much)

              There is so much rain in December.          (so much)

2.  ‘Few’ means ‘not many’ and is placed before a countable noun.

     ‘Little’ means ‘not much’ and is placed before an uncountable noun.

              Jean has few friends because she is not friendly. 

              Helen drinks little water every day but she drinks a lot of juice.

3.  ‘A few’ means ‘some’ and is placed before a countable noun.   

     ‘A little’ means ‘some’ and is placed before an uncountable noun. 

              Tom has a few hobbies.

               He spends a little time on these hobbies every day.        

                                                                                                (56)

4.  ‘Several’ means ‘a few’.  It is more than 3 but less than ‘many’.   

     There is no equivalent term in the uncountable noun.  

              Jim has several dogs of Pekinese breed.

              Nora likes to go outing with several friends.

5.  ‘A large / small number of’ is placed  before a countable noun.  The

     word ‘number’ is a good indicator to show the noun can be counted.

     ‘A large / small amount of’ is placed before an uncountable noun.  The

     word ‘amount’ is only for an uncountable noun.

              [A large number of students] enjoy sports.                  

              [A large amount of rain] falls in December.

6.  There is no equivalent term for the countable noun.

     ‘A large / small quantity of’  is only placed before an uncountable noun.

     The word ‘quantity’ shows that the noun can’t be counted.

             The factory needs a large quantity of fuel every day.

7.  There is no equivalent term for the countable noun.

     ‘A great deal of’ means ‘a large amount / quantity’.

              They spend a great deal of time doing the project.

8.  ‘A lot of ’ can mean ‘many / much’;  ‘a large number of / a

     large amount (quantity) / a great deal of’

     (a lot of = lots of)

               I have a lot of stamps.

               He wasted a lot of time loitering last year.

9.  ‘Plenty of’  means ‘number or amount  that is sufficient or more than

      one needs’.  It also means ‘in abundance’.  It means ‘a lot of’, too.

               There is plenty of fruit here throughout the year.

                My uncle has plenty of books in his library.           

10. ‘Some’ means ‘a few / a little’ for both countable and uncountable

      noun.  It is used in the Positive statement.  It is also used in the        

      Interrogative when we offer something to others.

               Hassan has some pen-pals.

               There is some food for Tim on the table.

               Would you like some coffee?          (offer)               

               Do you need some help?               (offer)

                                                                                                  

11.  ‘Any’ usually associates with the Negative statement or Interrogative.

       It is for both countable and uncountable noun.            (57)

                My aunt does not have any pets.      (not ----- any)

                Does she have any pets?

                George did not have any money to pay rental last month.

                Did he borrow any money from his friends?

12.  ‘No’ is used for both a countable and uncountable noun.  It is used

       in the Negative statement.

                He has no hammer.           

                They have no time for the activity.

                I had no money for travelling last year.

(have / has / had no noun); (The word ‘no’ here means ‘not a / not any’)

 no  =  not a / not any       

13.  ‘None of’ is used for both a countable and uncountable noun.  It is 

       an indefinite pronoun.  It means ’not any / not one’

                None of the land is suitable for farming.

                None of the boys is / are helpful.

14.  ‘Enough’ is used for both a countable and uncountable noun.

       It means ‘as many / as much as necessary’.

               We have enough chairs here for everybody.

               We must have enough food and exercise to keep fit.

15.  ‘All’ is used for both a countable and uncountable noun.  It means       

       ‘the whole number / amount’.

              All my friends like the ideas very much.

              All the food on the table tastes gorgeous.

____________________________________________________________

The phrases are followed by a Noun or Pronoun or Noun Phrase because of the preposition ‘of’.   As we know that any of the preposition can be followed by a Noun, a Pronoun or a Gerund (F2).

              a large / small number of

              a large / small amount (quantity) of

              a great deal of                                         (Noun / Pronoun )

              a lot of = lots of

              plenty of

              none of

____________________________________________________________                            

                                                                                                 

Topic 17                 Words of Quantity                                         

Exercise 97

Fill in the blanks with ‘many / much / few / little’.

1.  There are not many fish in the pond.  I can see _______ fish only.

2.  George takes parts in _________ activities.  He is so busy.

3.  Irene does not drink much coffee.  She drinks _______ coffee in a

     week.

4.  It rained so _________ last month that it flooded for nearly a week.

5.  I have _________ pairs of shoes.  I have a lot of choices.

6.  There isn’t much oil in the tin.  There is too _______ to last for a week.

7.  Wei Hua does not have many compact disks.  He has __________

     compact disks for songs.

8.  Leela does not have much homework.  She only has ________ to do in

     the afternoon, so she has a lot of time for extensive reading.

Exercise 98

Fill in the blanks with ‘ a few / a little / a large number of / a large amount of’.

1.  There are ______________________ pupils in that school.  The school

     can’t accommodate any more pupils. 

2.  Jimmy keeps ______________ turtles for fun.  He doesn’t have enough

     space for many.

3.  ___________________ water is drained away because people are

    careless in their daily activities like washing, cleaning and cooking.

4.  I only need _________ ink to write.  I need some.

5.  Sally has _____________ freedom at home.  Her parents are very

     strict and restrictive. 

6.  Mr Bong has a big factory, so he has ____________________ workers.

7.  Mariana needs some exercise, so she spares ______________ minutes

     for exercising daily.

8.  Zaki’s father drinks __________________ water on hot days .

Exercise 99

Fill in the blanks with ‘a lot of / some / none of / no’.

1.  I have ______________ flour to make a few buns.

2.  John has _________ time to go home to have his lunch.  He eats out.

3.  There is _________________ dirt in the room.  Please clean it now. 

     Everybody must help to clean the room.

4.  ___________ the children enjoyed the food.  It was too spicy for them.

5.  Peter put _______________ gel on his hair to fix it.  It is a little only.

6.  Irene has _______________choice but do the work.

7.  George spends _______________ time reading.  He reads all the time. 

8.  This is _______________ your business.                                   (59)

Exercise 100                                                                              

Fill in the blanks with ‘a great deal / enough / all / any / several ’.

1.  The poor people need _______________of help to survive well.

2.  I have saved _____________ money to buy the dress I like so much.

3.  Sheila has ______________ calligraphy brushes.

4.  Ching Jin does not have ______________ medicine with her now.

5.  George ate _____________ the food on the plate.  He was so full.

6.  Patrick’s mother has not _______________ salt for cooking dinner.

7.  There are _____________ goats, cows, pigs  and ducks on the farm.

8.  We need __________________of effort to do the task.  It is difficult.

9.  _________________ my classmates attended my birthday party. 

10.  Rajis has __________________ pen-pals.  He often writes to them.

Exercise 101

Fill in the blanks with ‘plenty /a large quantity of /enough /some /any / ’.

1.  There are just _________________ seats for 1200 students in the hall.

2.  Henry does not have ____________________ singlet to wear today.

3.  Mei Lee drinks  ______________  water daily because she sweats a lot.

4.  There is _____________of clean water supply from the nearby stream.

5.  I only need ___________ rest in the afternoon.  Even fifteen minutes

     will do.

6.  Urich went shopping with __________ friends.

7.  We have _____________________ of durians at this time of the year.

8.  Rita has ___________________ juice to serve just a cup to 100 guests.

9.  The hospital needs ____________________ blood ‘O’ type. 

10.  Have you ____________ control over the situation?

Exercise 102

Fill in the blanks with ‘several / all / none / no / a small quantity of’.

1.  Tony has __________ chance to win the game because he does not

     bother to practise hard to achieve.

2.  Mark’s mother poured _________ the soup away because there was a

     cockroach in it.  They had no soup for dinner.

3.  We only need ___________________ zinc to stay in good health.

4.  He has  _______________ houses in Sibu.

5.  She knows ___________ of them.  She is new here.

6.  Tina has ________________ friends because she is greedy and selfish.

7.  The doctor told Wendy to apply ____________________  ointment.

8.  He can eat ________________ oranges at one go.

9.  _________ my friends had a good time at the beach.

10.  ______________ of my Iban friends speaks Chinese well.  They only

      know how to speak English and Iban well.          (60)