Quantifiers

Quantifiers

a, the, some, any, many, much, a lot of

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Countable nouns

Countable nouns

What are them?

Things you can count one by one.

They have singular and plural forms: An apple 🍎 Two apples 🍎🍎 A cellphone 📱 Three cellphones 📱📱📱

Cosas que puedes contar una a una.

For example, oranges, apples, cars, cats, etc.

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns

What are them?

Things you can't count one by one.

They don't have a singular or plural form; they are written in the same way. For example, sugar, water, cereal, milk, etc.

Cosas que no puedes contar una a una.

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a vs. the

a vs. the

What are them?

Used with countable nouns in singular in front of a noun unknown. Se usa con nombres contables en singular delante de un sustantivo no conocido.

a / an → un / una

a → before a consontant sound.

For example, a car, a cat, a person, etc.

an → before a vowel sound.

For example, an apple, an orange, etc.

Used with countable and uncountable nouns in front of a noun known. Se usa con nombres contables e incontables delante de un sustantivo conocido.

the → el / la / los / las

Compare:

We have got a car.

vs.

The car is red.

some vs. any

some vs. any

What are them?

Used with countable nouns in plural and uncountable nouns. Se usa con nombres contables en plural y con nombres incontables.

some → unos/as; algunos/as; algo de; un poco de

Afirmative:

I've got some money.

Interrogative:

Can you give me some money?

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Used with countable nouns in plural and uncountable nouns. Se usa con nombres contables en plural y con nombres incontables.

any

Negative → ningún / ninguna; nada de

I haven't got any money.

Interrogative → algún/una/os/as; algo de

Have you got any money?

many vs. much

many vs. much

What are them?

many → muchos / muchas

Used with countable nouns in plural. Se usa con nombres contables en plural.

Afirmative

There are many cars parked in the car park.

Interrogative → How many... ? = ¿Cuántos...?

How many cars do you have?

Used with uncountable nouns in negative and interrogative sentences. Se usa con nombres incontables en oraciones negativas e interrogativas.

much → muchos / muchas

Negative → I haven't got much money.

Interrogative → Have you got much money?

¿Cuánto...? → How much... ?

How much money do you have?

Used with uncountable nouns in plural and uncountable nouns. Se usa con nombres incontables en oraciones negativas e interrogativas.

a lot of / lots of → mucho/a/os/as; un montón de

A lot of kids (count.) play in the playground.

I have got lots of money (uncount.)

Match the quantifiers with the correct type of nouns. Place in between those which can be used with countable and uncountable nouns.

countable

uncountable

much

some

the

many

a lot of

a / an

any

Exception to the rule: You can use "some" in questions if you're offering something or asking for something you hope the answer is "yes". Se puede usar "some" en preguntas cuando esta expresa una oferta o petición y se espera que la respuesta sea "sí".

You can't count them but you can "convert" them to countables using measuring words. For example: