quantifiers

Countable Uncountable Positive Negative Questions Exceptions

(+) (-) (?) *
some
√ √ √ * Requests
Offers
any
√ √ √ √
no *
√ √ √
The form is + but
the meaning is -

many
√ √ √
* (+)Formal

much
√ √ √
* (+)Formal

few *
√ √
Few (not enough )
A few( enough)
a few
little *
√ √
Little(not enough)
A little ( enough)
a little
hardly any *
√ √ √
Very few or very
little

a lot of
√ √ √ √ √
Informal
Spoken English
lots of
a number of
√ √
Formal

a great deal of
√ √
Formal

plenty of
√ √ √
Informal
Spoken English

Examples

There is some milk and some apples in the fridge but we haven’t got any eggs and

also we have no flour, too. Can you buy some for the cake ?

There weren’t many students at school so we didn’t do much lesson yesterday.

Mary has got very few friends since she came here only a month ago.

When I was at high school I used to have a few friends that I got along with

well.

I have a little time to finish the project.

I have little time to finish the project I wish I started earlier !

There is hardly any time left ! We must hurry and start running!

You can see a lot of Tulips in Istanbul in March and April.

A number of people believe that UFOs are true.

It is not good to have a great deal of stress