1. S.2E English Language Module 8 Quantifiers
9 March 2011

2. Discuss with your neighbour
Discuss with your neighbour. Compare the difference between the ingredients on Mary’s recipe and those on John’s.

3. Mary and John’s egg tart recipes
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
10 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of white sugar
5 tablespoons of cold water
4 cups of water
10g of brown sugar
3 eggs
12 cups of evaporated milk
4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Ingredients:
Some cups all-purpose flour
Many tablespoons of butter
One cup of sugar
Many tablespoons of cold water
A few cups of water
A little brown sugar
Several eggs
A lot of cups of evaporated milk
A few teaspoons of vanilla extract
Quantifiers

4. Quantifiers What are quantifiers? What do they do?
They tell us something about quantity.
Quantifiers ≠ numbers
E.g. I bought several books yesterday.
I bought 5 books yesterday.
Quantity
Exact amount

5. The forms of quantifiers:
Examples
Quantifier + n
Some girls
Quantifier + adj. + n.
Some good girls
Quantifier + adv. + adj. + n.
Some very good girls

6. countable or uncountable? Meaning?
Quantifiers
Which are used with countable nouns
Which are used with uncountable nouns
Which are used with both
Several
A few
Many
Too many
Few
A bit of
A little
Much
Too much
Little
Plenty of No
Enough
Some
A lot of
Any

7. Too many / Too much vs. a lot of
e.g. I’m full now. I’ve eaten too much.
Positive
Negative meaning
Negative meaning

8.    Is any positive or negative?  It is a double negative!
Positive in most cases.
Only negative when accompanied by a negative verb.
I haven’t got any money.
I have got any money.
I have got no money.
I didn’t have no money.    
It is a double negative!

9. Warm-up exercise
Andy and May are going to Paris. They are discussing what they should take in their suitcase. Fill in the gaps with some, any, too many and too much.
too many
May:
Honey, that’s far ________________ shirts. There won’t be enough space in the suitcase.
Andy:
I didn’t take many last year. Remember? Then I had to buy ___________ new ones.
You won’t have to buy ___________ this year. I’m sure we’ll have enough time to wash clothes while we’re there.
some
any

10. Warm-up exercise
Jacky is going for a picnic tomorrow and now asking for his mum to allow him to bring snacks. Fill in the gaps with some, any, too many and too much.
some
Jacky:
Mum, can I bring _____________ potato chips with me?
Mum:
You can bring _____________ but not ______________.
Can I bring _____________ chocolate too?
Please, Jacky, don’t bring _______________ chocolate this year. Last year you packed ______________ and it melted in your bag.
some
too many
some
any
too much

11. A few / few / a little / little?
Countable or uncountable?
A few / Few
A few
Few
A little / Little
A little
Little +
countable - +
uncountable -

12. I have ________ pencils in my pencil case.
Meaning 
I have ________ coins in my pocket.
Coin 
a few
countable
+ve
few
countable
-ve (almost no coins!)

13. -ve (almost no interest!)
Today is my birthday. I want to try __________ wine.
Wine 
Meaning 
I don’t like learning Japanese. I really have _______ interest in it. I love English much more!
Interest 
a little
uncountable
+ve
little
uncountable
-ve (almost no interest!)

14. Warm-up exercise (II)
Fill in the blanks with a few, few, a little, and little.
Alex is now settling down at his new school. At first, he kept very much to himself and had ______________ to say about him. He had _____________ friends because he kept silent all the time. He wasn’t really happy. This term is better, though, as he has made some new friends, including ________________ really good friends.
little
few
a few