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quantifier

B2
noun

Pronunciation

UK

  • /kwˈɒntɪfˌaɪə/

US

  • /ˈkwɑn.tə.faɪ.ər/noun
  • /ˈkwɑn.tɪ.faɪ.ər/noun

Description

Imagine you're baking cookies. You do not just want cookies; you want some cookies, or three cookies, or all the cookies. That is where this kind of word comes in. It is a word or phrase that tells us how much of something there is or how many things there are.

Think of words like "many," "few," "several," "most," and "a lot of." These words do not describe what the cookies are. They describe how many or how much. In grammar, they often come before nouns, as in "some sugar" or "a few eggs." They help you be exact, or sometimes use a general amount.

Examples

  1. 1

    Basic example

    In “many books,” the word “many” is a quantifier.

  2. 2

    Countable nouns

    English uses different quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns.

  3. 3

    Noun agreement

    You can say “much time” but not “many time” because the quantifier has to match the noun.

    • Grammar

      match the noun

      be the right form for that noun

Forms and spellings

2 forms open this card.

Main spelling

  • quantifiernoun

Forms

  • quantifierspluralnoun