🧮 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 time left for this exercise.
Are there many new words in this text?

Affirmatives

Prefer a lot of / lots of: We have a lot of practice today. ⏳
But you can use too much / too many: There’s too much noise; There are too many mistakes on this page.

❓How much / How many

QUESTIONS

How many pages do you read in a week?
How much English do you speak at home?

🟣A lot of / Lots of

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

I spend a lot of time listening to English podcasts.
We learned lots of useful phrases in this unit.

“of” before a noun / sentence-final use

Before a noun, include of: a lot of exercises ✅
At the end of a sentence, drop of: I like this lesson a lot. · I practised lots.

🟢(A) Few / (A) Little

COUNTABILITY

(a) few + plural countable: I made a few notes while I was reading.
(a) little / a bit of + uncountable: I understand a little grammar now; Add a bit of practice every day.

MEANING

a few / a little = some, enough (positive). “I have a few minutes to help you.” 🙂
few / little (no a) = almost none, not enough (negative). “I know little about phrasal verbs, so I need more practice.”

🧩Some / Any

BASIC RULE

some in affirmatives: I have some new vocabulary today.
any in negatives/questions: Do you have any homework this week?
Both can be used with countable (plural) and uncountable nouns: some words / some time; any questions / any help.

Offers & requests

Use some: Would you like some help with pronunciation? · Can I ask some questions?

ANY in affirmatives

Meaning “it doesn’t matter which / at all”: Choose any topic you like for speaking.
Conditionals: If you need any extra practice, tell me. 📞

ℹ️

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

🧷“of” with determiners/pronouns

some/any/many/much/few/little + of + the/my/these/us/them…
Some of the examples are very easy. · I don’t know any of them. · We spent much of the lesson on speaking.

🚫Common mistakes

❌ much/many in positives → Prefer a lot of/lots of (unless with too).
❌ a few of time → ✅ a little time / a few minutes.
❌ Singular after many → ✅ plural: many mistakes.
❌ 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 many flashcards, but we have a few picture cards.
There wasn’t much time, so I learned a little new vocabulary.
Do you have any questions? — Yes, I have some.
There are too many new words and too much fast speech in this video.

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

Quantifiers: much many little few some any

Quantifiers: much many little few some any

Quantifiers: much many little few some any