Rock formations of different colors and stratifications in Capitol Reef National Park

Activity: “What are quantifiers in English?”

By: revel arroway
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our English Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: “How much” or “how many”?

Each sentence below is the answer to a question about a quantity. What was the question? The first one is done for you.

Q: How many eggs does Susan have?
A: Susan has three eggs.

  • Q: How does Peter have?
    A: Peter has seven siblings.

  • Q: How do you have?
    A: I have half-a-bottle of milk.

  • Q: How were waiting in line?
    A: There were six customers waiting in line at the bank.

  • Q: How did Jenny make?
    A: Jenny made four trays of toast for the breakfast.

    → also acceptable: How many trays of toast did Jenny make?

  • Q: How do you have?
    A: I have $20.00.

    → The question “How many dollars do you have?” is very uncommon in English.

  • Q: How did she buy for her garden?
    A: She didn’t buy any soil for her garden.

  • Q: How came late for the concert?
    A: Two or three people came late for the concert.

  • Q: How about local restaurants does the concierge have?
    A: The concierge has a lot of information about local restaurants.

  • Q: How did Jim see walking down the street yesterday?
    A: Jim saw 12 cats walking down the street yesterday.

  • Q: How should you add to the soup?
    A: You should add half-a-teaspoon of salt to the soup.

    Also acceptable: How many teaspoons of salt should you add to the soup?

Activity 2: Answer the questions

Now, let’s answer your questions using quantifiers! Rephrase the “answer” to each of the questions in Activity 1 using a quantifier. For example:

Q: How many eggs does Susan have? → this comes from Activity 1!
A: Susan has a few eggs. → this answer is based on the “three eggs” in Activity 1.

Use the quantifiers from the list below. Try to use each one at least once!

enough

a lot of

no

several

a ton of

lots of

a bunch of

a little

some

a few

  • Peter has .

    Sample answers: a lot of siblings / several siblings / lots of siblings / a bunch of siblings

  • I have .

    Sample answers: some milk / enough milk / a bunch of milk

  • There were waiting in line.

    Sample answers: several people / a bunch of people / some people / (a few people) / (a lot of people) / (lots of people)

    → The best answer would depend on how many people you expect to be in line. If you expect 0, then 6-7 is “a lot of people,” but if you expect 30, then 6-7 is “a few people.”

  • Jenny made for the breakfast.

    Sample answers: a lot of toast / enough toast / a ton of toast / lots of toast / a bunch of toast

  • I have for the textbook.

    Sample answers: enough money

    → Remember that “enough” means a “sufficient quantity.”

  • She bought for her garden.

    Sample answers: no soil

  • came late for the concert.

    Sample answers: A few people

  • The concierge has information about local restaurants.

    Sample answers: a lot of / enough / a bunch of / lots of / a ton of / some

  • came late for the concert.

    Sample answers: several cats / a lot of cats / lots of cats / a bunch of cats / some cats

  • You should add a to the soup.

    Sample answers: a little salt / some salt

Activity 3: Match the quantifiers!

Choose the quantifier that best describes the quantity in each sentence. For a bonus challenge, write down the complete sentence!

every
few
most
neither
some
a lot of
a little
no
a few
enough

  1. There are fifteen boys in the choir. Fifteen boys sang at the concert.
    Quantifier:

    2. Every boy is in the choir.

  2. There are twenty students in the class. Three of them passed the test. The teacher was disappointed.
    Quantifier:

    3. Few students passed.
    We use few because student is a count noun and the number is small and disappointing.

  3. Sixty people applied for the job. We only expected seven!
    Quantifier:

    4. A lot of people applied.

  4. John and Susan insulted Bill. John did not apologize and Susan did not apologize.
    Quantifier:

    5. Neither person apologized.

  5. Peter turned in 0 assignments this semester.
    Quantifier:

    6. Peter turned in no assignments this semester.

  6. I don’t want a lot of crackers. Just give me six.
    Quantifier:

    7. I only want a few crackers.
    We use a few because crackers is a count noun and the number is small but sufficient.

  7. I was worried that nobody would come to the meeting, but people did come.
    Quantifier:

    8. Some people came to the meeting.

  8. Please give me a small piece of pie.
    Quantifier:

    9. Please give me a little pie.
    Pie is a mass noun, so for a small quantity we use a little.

  9. The majority of people think that puppies are cute.
    Quantifier:

    10. Most people think that puppies are cute.

  10. That coat costs $20. My mom gave me $30 to go shopping.
    Quantifier:

    11. My mom gave me enough money to buy the coat.
    Tip: We almost never say enough dollars or enough cents! Use the generic enough money instead.

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