English Grammar A1 Level Quantitative Determiners | English Grammar A1 Level

Introduction

Determiners are modifiers of nouns ^[1]. They can provide information about which and how many/much people, things… we are talking about.

Quantitative determiners or quantifiers are used to indicate the quantity ^[2] of something.

Form

Quantitative determiners come before a noun to indicate its amount or quantity.

The main quantitative determiners are:

With countable nouns: (a) few, both and many…
With uncountable nouns: (a) little, some and much…

Example

Countable nouns

Were there only a few people at work?
There are shops on both sides of the street.
So many people visit London in winter.

Uncountable nouns

How little sugar is left?
Some people like football and basketball.
We do not have much time.

Use

We use quantitative determiners with countable and uncountable nouns to indicate the quantity of something.

Countable nouns:

(A) few = Little amount of something;
Both = One and the other of a pair of things;
Many = Big amount of separated objects.

Uncountable nouns:

(A) little = Small amount of something;
Some = Undefined but considerable amount of something.
Much = Big amount of a mass;

Summary

Quantitative determiners are used to indicate the amount or quantity of something. We use different quantitative determiners with countable and uncountable nouns ^[1]:

With countable nouns ^[2] we can use the determiners (a) few, both and many…
With uncountable nouns ^[2]we can use the determiners (a) little, some and much…

For example:
— Countable: “Can you buy a few coffees at the bar?” = Coffees refers to cups of coffee.
— Uncountable: “Can you buy some coffee at the supermarket?” = Coffee refers to 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.