🧮 Quantifiers: Much · Many · (A) Little · (A) Few · Some · Any

Countable vs uncountable, negatives/questions, offers/requests, and the contrast between few/little vs a few/a little.

many → plural countable much → uncountable a lot of / lots of → both few/little vs a few/a little some (+) · any (?) (−) too much / too many how much / how many

🔵Many / Much in negatives & questions

USE Use many with plural countable nouns, much with uncountable nouns — mostly in negatives and questions.

There isn’t much coffee in the jar.
Were there many people at the party?

Affirmatives

Prefer a lot of / lots of: We have a lot of time. ⏳
But you can use too much / too many: There’s too much salt; You eat too many biscuits.

❓How much / How many

QUESTIONS

How many concerts have you been to?
How much coffee have you had today?

🟣A lot of / Lots of

BOTH TYPES Use with both countable (plural) and uncountable nouns — typically in positive sentences.

She spends a lot of time watching TV.
We had lots of good moments together.

“of” before a noun / sentence-final use

Before a noun, include of: a lot of books ✅
At the end of a sentence, drop of: I like her a lot. · I had lots.

🟢(A) Few / (A) Little

COUNTABILITY

(a) few + plural countable: I have to do a few things this afternoon.
(a) little / a bit of + uncountable: He gets good results with very little effort; Add a bit of sugar.

MEANING

a few / a little = some, enough (positive). “There are a few beers in the fridge.” 🍺
few / little (no a) = almost none, not enough (negative). “There’s little milk; we need more.”

🧩Some / Any

BASIC RULE

some in affirmatives: I have some questions.
any in negatives/questions: Is there any sugar in the cupboard?
Both can be used with countable (plural) and uncountable nouns: some apples / some rice; any friends / any water.

Offers & requests

Use some: Would you like some help? · Can I have some tea?

ANY in affirmatives

Meaning “it doesn’t matter which / at all”: Take any seat you like.
Conditionals: If you need any help, call me. 📞

ℹ️

With countables after any in general questions use the plural: Are there any students? (not *Is there any students?)

🧷“of” with determiners/pronouns

some/any/many/much/few/little + of + the/my/these/us/them…
Some of the students are late. · I don’t know any of them. · We spent much of the day outside.

🚫Common mistakes

❌ much/many in positives → Prefer a lot of/lots of (unless with too).
❌ a few of water → ✅ a little water / a few bottles of water.
❌ Singular after many → ✅ plural: many problems.
❌ some any together → choose one depending on the sentence type.

✅Quick checks

Plural countable? → many / a few / a lot of
Uncountable? → much / a little / a lot of
Negative / question? → much/many/any
Offer / request? → some
Too big a quantity? → too much / too many

🧪More natural examples

We don’t have enough chairs, but we have a few spare stools.
There wasn’t much time, so we made a little progress.
Do you have any questions? — Yes, I have some.
There are too many emails and too much noise here.

Recap: many (plural countable), much (uncountable), a lot of/lots of (both), a few/a little (positive “some”), few/little (negative “not enough”), some (+ / offers/requests), any (− / ? / “whichever”). 🌟

🧮 Quantifiers: Much · Many · (A) Little · (A) Few · Some · Any

Much, many, little, few, some, any: Quantifiers

Choose much, many, little, few, some, any to complete each sentence.

Much, many, little, few, some, any: Quantifiers

Choose much, many, little, few, some, any to complete the sentences below.

Much, many, little, few, some, any: Quantifiers

Fill in the gaps with a lot of, much, many, how much, how many.