Determiners of Quantity

Words that determine quantity are used to show how much of something to which you are
referring. Some expressions of quantity are only used with count nouns, some are only used
with non-count nouns and others are used with both. Study the chart below.
Determiners of Quantity With Count Nouns With Non-Count Nouns
one one ball
each each ball ØØØ
every every ball
two, three, etc. two balls
both both balls
a couple of a couple of balls
a few a few balls ØØØØØØØ
several several balls
many many balls
a number of a number of balls
a little a little water
much ØØØ much water
a great deal of a great deal of water
no no balls no water
some/any some/any balls some/any water
a lot of/lots of a lot of/lots of balls a lot of/lots of water
plenty of plenty of balls plenty of water
most most balls most water
all all balls all water
Consider the sentence structure to determine whether a singular or plural verb is used with a
determiner of quantity. Sentences that begin with words that indicates portions, such as: percent,
fraction, part, majority, some, all, none, remainder, etc., look at the noun of the prepositional
phrase (object of the preposition) in order to determine whether or not to use a singular or plural
verb.
RULE: If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the
preposition is plural, use a plural verb.
Example 1:
Half of the dresses are dirty.
In this sentence, half is the subject and of the dresses is a prepositional phrase which gives
reference to what half is referring. In this case, the countable noun dresses requires a plural verb.
Example 2:
Half of the sugar is gone.
In this sentence, half is the subject, but the non-countable noun sugar in the modifying
prepositional phrase requires a singular verb.