eng8-u3-grammar-a· UNIT 3. NATURE· ~19 min

Unit 3 Grammar A: Quantifiers

Control quantity, noun type, scope, and agreement with few, little, no, none, and all.

Quantifiers combine meaning with noun type and sentence structure. A few and few go with plural countable nouns; a little and little go with uncountable nouns. The article changes the viewpoint: a few and a little mean some, while few and little emphasize that the amount is small or insufficient. No comes directly before a noun. None stands without a following noun, while none of introduces an object pronoun or a determined noun phrase such as the rescuers. All can come before a plural countable noun or an uncountable noun, and all of is used before object pronouns and can be used before a determiner such as my or the. With none of, uncountable information takes a singular verb; a plural referent permits either a singular or plural verb, with singular often more formal.

Key terms

countable noun — a noun with singular and plural forms, such as injury/injuries
uncountable noun — a noun not normally counted individually, such as information or water
scope — the noun or group that a quantifier applies to
agreement — matching the verb with the number or type of its subject
Quantifier patterns
MeaningCountable pluralUncountable
some; positivea few suppliesa little water
scarce; negativefew doctorslittle time
zero before nounno injuriesno information
complete amountall homes areall information is
No, none, and of
FormWhat followsExample
nonounno rescue teams
noneno nounHow many arrived? None.
none ofobject pronoun or determined noun phrasenone of them; none of the information
all ofobject pronoun or determined nounall of us; all of my books
✎Choose quantity and viewpoint
  1. 1Classify the noun: Bottles is plural and countable.
  2. 2Read the outcome: There are some bottles to give away, so the quantity is useful.
  3. 3Choose the form: Use a few bottles, not few bottles.
🚫The article changes meaning

A few and a little mean some; dropping a makes the same small quantity sound insufficient.

💡Check what follows

Use no before a noun, none by itself, and none of before a pronoun or noun phrase.

Rules

  1. 1Use a few or few + plural countable noun.
  2. 2Use a little or little + uncountable noun.
  3. 3A few and a little present some quantity positively; few and little emphasize scarcity or insufficiency.
  4. 4Use no directly before a countable or uncountable noun: no injuries, no information.
  5. 5Use none without a following noun; use none of before an object pronoun or a determined noun phrase.
  6. 6Use all + plural noun + plural verb, but all + uncountable noun + singular verb.
  7. 7Use all of before an object pronoun: all of us, all of them.
  8. 8With none of, an uncountable referent takes a singular verb; a plural referent allows either singular or plural agreement.

Practice

5 easy · 5 medium · 5 hard

Up to 10 random questions per test

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