4-1 Expressions Of Quantity #1

Count and Noncount Nouns

In English, it is important to understand the difference between nouns you can count, and nouns
you can’t count.

Count Nouns Noncount Nouns

 person  music

 jars  money

 cars  love

 fish (animal) (not food)  time

 apple  water

 egg  milk

 man  sugar

 girl  information

Count nouns can be singular or plural:

Examples:

 A man from the government called me last night. (singular)

 Three men are sitting at our usual table! (plural)

 Can I borrow an egg? (singular)

 Can I borrow three eggs? (plural)

Much and Many

We use much with noncount nouns mainly with questions and negative sentences:

Examples:

 I didn’t have much dinner last night.

 She doesn’t have much time right now.

 Will you spend much money tonight?

  Did you study much English when you were a child?

We use many with count nouns mainly with questions and negative sentences:

Examples:

 How many people went to the party?

 Did you see many animals on your trip?

 I don’t have many friends.

 I didn’t take many photos.

In positive sentences, it is okay to use many, but a lot of / lots of is more common in North
America:

Examples:

 I bought many bananas. (okay)

 I bought a lot of bananas. (more common)

 We need many groceries. (okay)

 We need lots of groceries. (more common)

A Lot Of and Lots Of

We use a lot of and lots of with both count and noncount nouns:

Examples:

 We spent a lot of money last night.

 There were a lot of people on the Skytrain this morning.

 He ate lots of food at dinner time.

 There are lots of fish in the lake.

A lot of and lots of can be used in any kind of sentence:

Examples:

 He drank a lot of beer. (positive sentence)

  He didn’t drink a lot of beer. (negative sentence)

 Did he drink a lot of beer? (question)

A Few and A Little

We use a few with count nouns and a little with noncount nouns:

Examples:

 She only spent a few dollars.  She only spent a little money.

 We stayed there for a few hours.  We stayed there for a

little while.
 Do you have a few minutes to help
me?  Do you have a little time to help
me?

4-2 Expressions Of Quantity #2

Some and Any
The use of some and any in English is very common. In general, some means not a lot. Some is
used in positive sentences:

Examples:

 I would love some more coffee.

 She has some new clothes.

Any is used in questions and negative sentences:

Examples:

 Do you have any free time this weekend?

 Did you eat any breakfast this morning?

 I didn’t buy any new clothes last month.

 He isn’t wearing any shoes.

In questions, any doesn’t really change the meaning:

Examples:
  Do you have any time?

 Do you have time?

 Did you eat any breakfast?

 Did you eat breakfast?

In negative sentences, any means zero:

Examples:

 I don’t have any money. (zero money)

 She didn’t buy any groceries. (zero groceries)

Some is common in questions that are requests or offers:

Examples:

 Could I have some more coffee please? (request)

 Could you lend me some money? (request)

 Could you give me some help? (request)

 Would you like some food? (offer)

 Do you want some juice? (offer)

 Can I give you some help? (offer)

Something, Anything, Nothing

 something  anything  nothing

 somebody  anybody  nobody

 someone  anyone  no one

 somewhere  anywhere  nowhere

The rules are the same for the above words:

Positive Sentences, Requests, Offers = Something, Somebody, Someone, Somewhere

Examples:
  Let’s go somewhere together after class! (positive sentence)

 I want to eat something soon. (positive sentence)

 Could you tell me the name of somebody I could call? (request)

 Could you lend me something to write with? (request)

 Would you like something to eat? (offer)

 Do you want some cake? (offer)

Negative Sentences, Questions = Anything, Anybody, Anyone, Anywhere

Examples:

 I didn’t eat anything last night. (negative sentence)

 She didn’t tell anybody about the problem. (negative sentence)

 We didn’t go anywhere last weekend. (negative sentence)

 Did you do anything last night? (question)

 Did you email anybody to ask about the homework? (question)

Nothing, Nobody, No One, and Nowhere are used in positive sentences. They emphasize the
negative:

Examples:

 She didn’t eat anything for dinner. (negative sentence)

 She ate nothing for dinner. (positive sentence - emphasize NO DINNER)

 We didn’t go anywhere last night. (negative sentence)

 We went nowhere last night. (positive sentence - emphasize NO PLACE)

 She doesn’t like anybody. (negative sentence)

 She likes nobody. (positive sentence - emphasize NO PEOPLE)

4-3 Articles
Articles: A and The
A and An are called indefinite articles. They are used with singular count nouns when the thing is
introduced for the first time.

Examples:
  She bought a skirt.

 There is a grocery store near my house.

The is called a definite article. It is used with all nouns when the speaker and listener know the
thing already.

Examples:

 She bought a skirt. The skirt is pink.

 There is a grocery store near my house. The grocery store is quite big.

Other Rules - Indefinite Article: A and An

The indefinite article is used with jobs:

Examples:

 John is a teacher.

 She is a sales person.

Some expressions of quantity:

Examples:

 a pair of

 a couple of

 a lot of

 a few

 a little

What + A + Singular Count Noun / What + Plural Count Noun

Examples:

 What a pleasant afternoon!

 What a delicious piece of cake!

 What a stupid idea!

  What wonderful students!

Other Rules - Definite Article: The

The definite article is used with: oceans, seas, rivers, hotels, theatres, museums, newspapers,
mountain ranges:

Examples:

 The Red Sea The Alps

 The Fraser River The Rocky Mountains

 The Pacific Ocean The New York Times

 The Ritz Hotel The Vancouver Sun

 The Vancouver Sun

If there is only one of something:

Examples:
With superlative adjectives:

 the sun Examples:

 the most crowded city

 the King
 the biggest park
 the Government
 the hottest country
 the Internet
 the easiest language
 the door in our classroom

No Article
There is no article when talking about things in general:

Examples:

 She loves clothes.

 I hate tomatoes.

 Milk is healthy.

Before countries, cities, streets, languages, breakfast, lunch, dinner, airports, stations, and
mountains:

Examples:
  Canada is a big country.

 French is a beautiful language.

 Lunch was delicious today.

Before some places and with some forms of transportation:

 at home

 at school / to school

 at university / to university

 at work / to work

 in bed / to bed

 by bus, train, car, plane

Examples:

 He is at home today because he’s sick.

 I didn’t go to school yesterday.

 What time did you go to bed last night?

 He always comes to school by bus.

What + Uncount Noun

 What beautiful weather!

 What strange music!

 What good information!