2.1.- Quantifiers (I).

Do you know the difference between few, a few, little, many or much? We are going to study some determiners or quantifiers now.

The most common English quantifiers are:

Much, many.
A lot of, lots of, plenty of.
Little, few, a little, a few.
Some, any, no, none (of).
All, every, the whole, enough, several.

Some pronouns which are derived from the determiners above are:

Something, somebody / someone, somewhere.
Anything, anybody / anyone, anywhere.
Nothing, nobody / no one, nowhere.
Everything everyone / everybody everywhere.

Let's take a look at some of these quantifiers in more detail.

Lots of, a lot of, plenty of: They are used with countable or uncountable nouns and are normally used in affirmative sentences. They mean: muchos / muchas in the plural or mucho / mucha in the singular form.
- A lot of / Lots of students / books / ideas.
- A lot of / Plenty of / lots of sugar / water / information.
- She has got a lot of brothers. There are plenty of students here.
Many is used with countable nouns and Much is used with uncountable nouns. They are normally used in questions or negative sentences. Many: muchos / muchas. Much: mucho / mucha.
- She hasn't got many problems / children. There aren't many students here.
- We haven't got much information / water / time / money.
Little and few imply negative ideas. Little means not much, poco / poca and it is used with uncountable nouns. Few means not many, pocos / pocas and it is used with countable nouns.
- There is little time, hurry up! She is quite poor, she has got little money.
- There are few people in the street because it is really cold now.
A little and a few are more positive ideas. A little means some, un poco / una poca and it is used with uncountable nouns. A few also means some, unos pocos / unas pocas and it is used with countable nouns.
- Don't worry, we have a little time. (This means they have some time.)
- I have got a few friends in Seville to visit next weekend. (This means I have some friends.)

Ejercicio Resuelto

Click to read the spanish translation.

Retroalimentación

¿Sabes la diferencia entre few, a few, little, many, o much? Vamos a estudiar algunos cuantificadores ahora.

Los cuantificadores más comunes son:

Much, many, a lot of, lots of, plenty of, little, few, a little, a few, some, any, no, none (of), all, every, the whole, enough, several.

Algunos pronombres que se derivan de los cuantificadores de arriba son:

Something, somebody / someone, somewhere, anything, anybody / anyone, anywhere, nobody / no one, nothing, nowhere, everything, everyone / everybody, everywhere.

Veamos algunos de estos cuantificadores en detalle:

Lots of, a lot of, plenty of: Se usan con nombres contables e incontables en frases afirmativas. Significan muchos/as en plural o mucho / mucha en singular.
Many se usa con nombres contables y much con nombres incontables. Normalmente se usan con frases negativas o interrogativas. Many: muchos / muchas, Much: mucho / mucha.
Little y few son ideas negativas. Little significa no mucho / no mucha, poco / poca, y se usa con nombres incontables. Few significa no muchos / no muchas, pocos / pocas y se usa con nombres contables.

A little and a few son ideas positivas. A little significa algo, un poco / una poca, y se usa con nombres incontables. A few significa varios / varias, unos pocos / unas pocas y se usa con nombres contables.

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