Quantifiers: much, many, few, little, some and any

A few and a little are positive: they mean some, perhaps enough. "I have a few friends here, so I'm not lonely." "There's a little milk left for your tea."

Few and little without a are negative: they mean not many or not much, often less than you want. "Few people came, so the event was cancelled." "There is little hope of rain this week."

Quite a few means a fairly large number: "Quite a few students failed the test."

Use some in positive sentences and any in negatives and most questions: "I have some questions." "I don't have any questions." Use some in offers and requests when you expect yes: "Would you like some tea?" Any in a positive sentence means it doesn't matter which: "Ask any teacher."

Much is normal in negatives and questions ("We haven't got much time"). In everyday positive sentences, a lot of sounds more natural: "There's a lot of traffic today." In formal writing, much is fine in positive sentences: "Much research has been done on this topic."

Each and every take a singular noun and a singular verb. Each looks at the members one by one and can be used for two; every sees them as a whole group of three or more. Say "each of the students" but "every one of the students", not "every of".

Charts and tables describe quantities all the time. Match the phrase to the noun.

• Wrong: The amount of people using buses rose.

  Right: The number of people using buses rose.

  People is countable, so use the number of.

• Wrong: There isn't many water in the tank.

  Right: There isn't much water in the tank.

  Water is uncountable, so it takes much.

• Wrong: I have a little friends in this city.

  Right: I have a few friends in this city.

  Friends is a plural countable noun, so it takes a few.

• Wrong: Every student have a laptop.

  Right: Every student has a laptop.

  Every takes a singular noun and a singular verb.

• Wrong: There are less cars on the road today.

  Right: There are fewer cars on the road today.

  Less with plural nouns is common in speech, but formal writing uses fewer.

Almost every IELTS Writing Task 1 answer needs "the number of" or "the amount of", and mixing them up is one of the most common errors in chart descriptions. Phrases such as "a small number of", "the majority of" and "a significant proportion of" let you describe data without repeating percentages. In Task 2 and PTE Write Essay, few and little help you make careful claims: "few studies support this view".

Try each one, then open it to check your answer.

1. 1. Much or many? "How ___ homework do you get?"

   much

   Homework is uncountable.

2. 2. Few or a few? "___ people understood the joke, so nobody laughed."

   Few

   The meaning is negative: not many people.

3. 3. Some or any? "Could I have ___ water, please?"

   some

   It is a request that expects yes.

4. 4. Number or amount? "The ___ of electricity used rose in winter."

   amount

   Electricity is uncountable.

5. 5. Each or every? "She wore a ring on ___ hand."

   each

   A person has two hands, and every needs three or more.

• Countable and uncountable nouns
• Determiners
• Degrees of comparison
• Plural nouns
• Articles (a, an, the)
• All grammar lessons
• Everyday English sentences