quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much.

He also called extended adjectives, to describe substantive in a vague way. Some of them: some, many, many, any.

QUANTIFIERS

How much? - ¿Cuánto? (con sustantivos incontables) 10%, 20%, 100% ... ofone half - ½one fourth - ¼three fourths - ¾a great deal of - gran cantidad dea little - un pocoa lot of - un montón dea quantity of - una cantidad dean amount of - una cantidadenough - suficienteless - menoslittle - pocomore - másno - nada denone of - nada denot much - no muchoplenty of - un montón de some - algo dethe rest of - el resto de

How many? - ¿Cuántos? (con sustantivos contables)one, two, three - un, dos, tres...10% , 20%, 100% ...of one half, one fourth of - un medio, un cuarto dea couple of - un para few - algunosa great many - muchísimosa large number of - un gran número dea lot of - un montón dea small quantity of - una pequeña cantidad dea large quantity of - una gran cantidad deanother - otroenough - suficientesfew - pocosfewer - menosmany - muchosmore - másmost of - la mayoría denone of - ninguno delots of - montones de

plenty of - gran cantidad deseveral - variossome - algunosthe majority of - la mayoría dethe rest of - el resto de

Adjectives with incountable and countable nouns

Some / Any

Para afirmarI need some books. Necesito algunos libros. She saw some apples on the table. Ella vió algunas manzanas sobre la mesa. They asked for some food. Ellos pidieron algo de comida. Some money was given to charity. Algo de dinero fue dado a obras de caridad.

Para hacer preguntas (generalmente para ofrecer o pedir algo)Would you like some coffee?¿Te gustaría algo de café? Could you lend me some coins?¿Podrías prestarme algunas monedas? Can you bring some more food, please?¿Puedes traer algo más de comida por favor?

any - algún (al preguntar)Do you have any questions? ¿Tienes alguna pregunta? Did they make any mistakes?¿Cometieron ellos algún error? Are there any other people left?¿Queda alguna otra persona?

any - cualquier (al afirmar)Any answer will be believed. Cualquier respuesta será creída. Any fool can do that. Cualquier tonto puede hacer eso. Take any of these bottles. Toma cualquiera de estas botellas.

any - ningún (al negar)I do not have any questions. No tengo ninguna pregunta. She did not give any explanation.

Ella no dio ninguna explicación. I couldn't find any excuse. No pude encontrar ninguna excusa

There is an important difference between "a little" and "little" (used with non-count words) and between "a few" and "few" (used with count words). If I say that Tashonda has a little experience in management that means that although Tashonda is no great expert she does have some experience and that experience might well be enough for our purposes. If I say that Tashonda has little experience in management that means that she doesn't have enough experience. If I say that Charlie owns a few books on Latin American literature that means that he has some some books — not a lot of books, but probably enough for our purposes. If I say that Charlie owns few books on Latin American literature, that means he doesn't have enough for our purposes and we'd better go to the library.

Quantifiers - Some rules of thumb on the use of little, a little, few and a few.

LITTLE : only used with UNCOUNTABLE nouns, synonym for hardly any, not much

ex. Look at the sky, there is little hope for bright and sunny weather tomorrow.

A LITTLE:only used with UNCOUNTABLE nouns, synonym for a small amount, some

ex. Is there ? The weather forecast says there is still a little hope.

FEW: with COUNTABLE nouns, synonym for hardly any, not many

ex. Few people attended the meeting. I counted only 4.

A FEW: with COUNTABLE nouns, synonym for a small number, some

ex. A few people asked me how I felt. That was nice.

BOTH / ALL

Whereas both refers to two things, two persons, etc., all refers to three or more elements.

There were trees on both sides of the road.(Había árboles a ambos lados de la carretera).There were trees on all sides of the road.(Había árboles por todas partes en la carretera).

ALL / EVERYWhereas all is possible to use in front of a noun in plural, every only can be in use in front of a noun in singular, it is exemplified by these two sayings of unknown origin

All roads lead to Rome.(Todos los caminos conducen a Roma).Every man has his price.(Todo hombre tiene su precio).

EVERY / EACHWhereas each can be use for referring to two or more persons, things, etc., every only can be use for referring to three or more elements.

Helen was carrying two cases, one in each hand. (Elena estaba llevando dos maletas, una en cada mano).Each / Every star in the sky has a name.(Cada/Toda estrella del firmamento tiene su nombre).

Graded QuantifiersThey function like comparatives and hold a relative position on a scale of increase or decrease.

Examples:There are many people in England, more in India, but the most people live in China. Much time and money is spent on education, more on health services but the most is spent on national defence. Few rivers in Europe are not polluted. Fewer people die young now than in the seventeenth century. The country with the fewest people per square kilometre must be Australia. Scientists have little hope of finding a complete cure for cancer before the year 2,000. She had less time to study than Paul but had better results. Give that dog the least opportunity and it will bite you.

Enough + Noun

Enough is placed before the noun, to indicate the quantity required or necessary:There is enough bread for lunch. She has enough money.

Enough is also used with adjectives and adverbs.

We didn't have enough time to visit London Bridge. Are there enough eggs to make an omelette? Richard has enough talent to become a singing star.