QUANTIFIERS

p.138

Large quantities (+)

Use a lot of/lots of :

They have a lot of/lots of money.

Lots of is more informal.

Use a lot when there is no noun:

I like English a lot (not I like English a lot of).

Large quantities: (-) & (?)

Use much with uncountable nouns.

Do you watch much TV?I don’t have much money.

Use many with countable nouns.

Are there many students in your class?There aren’t many cafés near here.

In both cases you can also use a lot of.

Use plenty of in (+) sentences to mean as much as we need or more.

No need to hurry. The film doesn’t start until 22.00 and it’s 21.00.It only takes 10 minutes to get to the cinema. We have plenty of time.

Small quantities

Use little with uncontable nouns.

Would you like some sugar in your tea? Just a little please.

Use few with countable nouns.

This town has very few good restaurants.

Both few and little can be pre-modified by very.

Hurry up! We have very little time.

A few/a little vs. few/little

A few/a little mean some but not a lot.

I have a few close friends (some, but not a lot, so that’s ok).

I have few close friends (I’m not happy with this situation, I’d like to have more)

Zero quantity

(-) verb: any

There isn’t any room in the car for your luggage.

(+) verb: no

There is no room in the car for your luggage.

Use none as a pronoun in short answers.

How much money do you have?

None.

More than you need or want.

Too + adjective.

I won’t buy this shirt. It’s too big for me.

Too much + uncountable noun.

What I don’t like about big cities is that there is too much traffic.

Too many + plural countable noun.

What I don’t like about big cities is that there are too many cars.

Less than you need.

Not enough + noun

There aren’t enough car parks in this city.

Adjective + enough

The buses aren’t frequent enough.