Explanations, Examples, Exercises

Quantifiers

Watch the video and learn how to use these correctly.

All or none

All (of) the people are here.	100% are here.
Not all (of) the people are here.	Less than 100%
All (of) the people are not here.	Not well defined. Could be “not all” or “none”
None of the people are here.	0% Focus on “people” (are)
Not any of the people are here.	0% Focus on “each” individual (is).

Some, Most, Many, Several, Few, A Few, A lot of

Some (of the) people are here.	Focus: positive
Some (of the) people are not here.	Focus: negative
Most of the people are here.	Focus: positive
Most of the people are not here	(uncommon)
Many (of the) people are here.	Focus: positive
Many (of the) people are not here.	(uncommon)
Not many (of the) people are here.	Focus: positive
Several (0f the) people are here	Focus: positive
A few (of the) people are here.	Focus: positive. At least some are here.
Few (of the) people are here.	Focus: negative. More people were expected.
A lot of (the) people are here.	Focus: positive
A lot of (the) people are not here.	Focus: negative
Not a lot of (the) people are here.	Focus: negative. More people were expected.
Three (of the) people are here.	Focus: positive
Three (of the) people are not here.	Focus: negative
Half of the people are here.	Focus: positive 50% are here.
Half of the people are not here.	Focus: negative 50% are absent.

Both, neither, one

Both (of the) people are here.	100% are here
One of the people is here.	Focus: positive
One of the people is not here.	Focus: negative
Neither of the people is here.	Focus: negative
Neither of the people are here.	Focus: 100% are absent. (Very informal)

In questions

Are all of the people here?	Yes, all of them are. Some of them are. Most of them are. No, none of them are. No, not many of them are.
Are most of the people here?	No, only some of them are.
Are any of the people here?	Yes, some of them are. Yes, most of them are. No, none of them are.

Answers may differ depending on the questions:

Is anyone here?	Yes, I am. (X) No, Jim isn’t here. Even if only one person is here, the answer is positive. (One person can answer for the whole group.) The answer can be negative only if 0% are here. For 1-100%, the answer is positive.
Is everyone here?	(X) Yes, I am. Yes, we (all) are. Now, Jim isn’t here. If even one person is not here, the answer is negative. )One person cannot independently speak for the group.) The answer can be positive only if 100% are here. For 0-99%, the answer is negative. Other possibilities: Everyone but/except Bill is here. Most of us are here. Almost all of us are here.

Answers may differ depending on the questions:

All	All	All the people are here.	All the sugar is gone.
Some	Some	Some people are here.	Some of the sugar is gone.
A lot of	A lot of	A lot of people are here.	A lot of sugar is gone.
Many	Much	Many people are here.	Much of the sugar is gone. Is there much sugar left?
Few	Little	Few people are here.	There isn’t much left.
A little	A few	A few people are here.	There’s little sugar left.
None	None	None of the people are here.	None of the sugar is left.

Watch the video below for more information.

Vocabulary List

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