Quantifiers 量词 tell us about the amount of something.
Some of them express a small or large quantity数量
Small: I have a few things to do before finishing work.
Large: I have many things to do before finishing work.
Some of them express part of or all of a quantity:
Part: It rains most of the days.
All: It rains all the time
Quantifiers can be simple:
- all, another, any, both, each, either, enough, every, few, fewer, little, less, many, more, much, neither, no, several, some
And complex:
- a few, a little, a lot of, lots of
Where do we put quantifiers?
At the beginning of a noun phrase名词短语
quantifier + noun
some people
both of us
every man
quantifier + adjective + noun
many old books
few young ladies
lots of beautiful girls
quantifier + adverb + adjective + noun
a lot of very crazy drivers
few very smart man
Sometimes we don’t need a noun:
These books are old but some are still in good condition. (Some means here some books)
Sometimes quantifiers can make a sentence more formal or more informal.
Many people were invited to the wedding. (formal)
A lot of people arrived late. (informal/natural)
They made little progress. (formal)
They didn’t make much progress. (informal/natural)