Stage 2 Stage 3
 

Today we’ll be speaking about quantifiers in English, but before we begin to go over them in greater detail, it is essential that we understand the basic meaning of each quantifier.

 

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Many, Much, Few, Little.

 

  • Many, Much
  • We use “many” to express the idea of a large quantity of something. It is used with things we can count, and we put the plural form after it. For example, we say many books, many cats, many pencils, many tennis balls, etc.
    However, the plural of a noun doesn’t always end in “s.” For example, the words “people,” “children,” “men,” and “women” are all plurals.

     

    We use “much” to express the idea of a large quantity of something as well, but it is used with things we cannot count. For example, we say much water, much money, much milk, much patience, etc.

    Si os fijáis, al contrario que con “many”, al usar “much” utilizamos la forma singular.

     

  • Few, Little
  • The meaning of the words “few” and “little” is the opposite of “many” and “much:” we use them to express a small quantity of something. We use “few” with things we can count, and “little” with things we cannot count. For example, “few books” and “little coffee.”

     

    As we can see, the most important thing we must determine before using any of these words is if we are dealing with a countable word or an uncountable word. One trick that can help you determine this is checking whether the word has a plural form or not. If it does not have a plural form, we use “much” or “little.” If it has a plural form, “many” or “few.”

     

    Don’t forget to practice what you’ve learned here in the exercise below. Remember that our teachers are happy to explain the meaning of these words starting in stage 2 the Callan Methodand that you will practice them a lot in the following stages.

     

    Jordi N.
    Callan Team

    . Edstrom, A. (2018) “Expresiones de cantidad en inglés: a few, few, a little, little”. Recursos gratuitos de inglés. Callan School of English.
    . Harman, G. (2017). “Quantifiers”. Recursos gratuitos de inglés. Callan School of English.

     

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    Mamen