UNIT 13 Quantifiers
OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY • When we talk about two things we use both (of), either (of), neither (of). The preposition of is used only when the noun is preceded by THE, demonstratives and possessives: both (of) (= the two of them) ➝ The purple one is lovely but I quite like both colours. neither (of) (not any of two) ➝ Neither of my twin sisters is blonde. either (of) (=one or the other) ➝ Would you like pizza or lasagna? Either. • Either can also be used in negative sentences to mean neither: I saw both these films but I didn’t like either (= I liked neither) When we want to express the totality of something we use all, every + compounds with every, each and whole, but there are differences in the usage of these quantifiers. • All (of) (+ plural countable or uncountable) is used as an adjective or as a pronoun as follows: the totality of or as ➝ All (of) my friends love wind-surfing. All of them hate football. everything / the only thing that ➝ All I want is food. I’m starving! (in this case it must be followed by a sentence specifying it, not alone: you say: ‘Is everything all right?’ Is all all right?) • Every (+ singular countable) can be used to mean the same as all + plural. Compare these examples: I’ve downloaded every track on this website OR: I’ve downloaded all the tracks on this website. • Everything is a pronoun referring to things, everybody and everyone refer to people: Everybody helped to make the costumes for the show, so everything was ready by 7 pm. • Each (+ singular countable) can mostly be substituted by every, but it stresses every single thing or person in a group rather than the total amount as a whole. However when we talk about a small quantity, ‘every’ isn’t normally used; you can only say ‘each of’, not ‘every of’ (but you can say ‘every one of’ if the number is bigger) Each time I see this film I cry. OR: Every time I see this film I cry. (‘All the times’ is possible, but more colloquial) I know each person in this room personally. (a limited number of people) Each of my siblings has their own room. • Whole (+ singular countable) is normally preceded by an article or a possessive and it often means the same as ‘all + singular countable’. We spent the whole day at the shopping centre. OR: We spent all day at the shopping centre.
1
Underline the correct quantifier in each sentence.
1 Would you like some / any apple juice? 2 We don’t have much / many homework to do. 3 There are usually lots of / a few books in a library. 4 I have no / none relatives living in my town. 5 Nobody with a bit of / little common sense would swim in a lake when there’s a thunderstorm.
2
6 There isn’t some / enough time to visit the Tate Gallery today. 7 There is hardly any / a little room in the fridge, so put the fruit on the table. 8 There are plenty / several mistakes in this test.
Are these sentences right (3) or wrong (7)? Correct the wrong ones.
1 2 3 4
We do much sport to keep fit. 5 Do you want any milk in your tea? Hardly any of my friends have a full time job. 6 He doesn’t have much patience to do a Can I have little water, please? sudoku. There are many countries I’d like to visit. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
35