Questions tagged [quantifiers]
For questions about quantifiers, words indicating an amount or quantity. Some examples of quantifiers are: all, many, some, several and no.
147 questions
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"All" followed by "of + pronoun"?
This question is a follow-up to this one.
It relates to the use of a quantifier “all” in this sentence:
The lectures will give you a detailed explanation of the subject, but
you may not be able to ...
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Is 'adjective' always appropriate to classify 'single' in the phrase 'a single [noun]'?
Obviously, single is classed as an adjective in such noun/determiner phrases as
a single woman
a single bed
a single ticket
(the default, collational or compound, readings).
Cambridge Dictionary ...
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The human body is 60% water. (60% quantifier float?)
(1) The human body is 60% water.
Note that (1) means "60% of the human body is water".
In (1), 60% is a quantifier of the subject but resides within the predicate. Is this a type of ...
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Why is "each" ungrammatical in "It’s an insult to us each"?
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Pages 427-28) has this:
Universal personal pronouns of the type us all
[6] i a. They’ve invited us all. b. It’s an insult to us both. ii a. She likes ...
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What is the right way to qualify a noun with a measurment descriptor? [duplicate]
Suppose I have, in an experiment, a metallic film that has a thickness of 10 nanometers.
What is the right short, perhaps technical, way to qualify this film with a modifier that describes this ...
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2
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Quantifier Floating and Subject Pronouns
I did some research about this topic; my main question is
Are some placements more well-regarded than others? I mean, are quantifiers before personal pronouns more descriptive grammar for example?
...
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Hyphenation of compound adjective or quantifier when referring back to antecedent
Example: She ate one or more apples, and each apple of the one-or-more apples was either red or green.
In the example, if "one or more apples" is the antecedent, should the reference back (i....
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Singular/plural nouns with units and 'how many'
Trying to work out whether to use 'is' or 'are' in the following sentences (aware they might differ):
How many grams of flour is/are on the scale?
How many centilitres of cough syrup are/is in the ...
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2
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An annoyingly technical question about right nonce-constituent coordination in Huddleston & Pullum (2002)
I'm currently reading Huddleston & Pullum (2002), aka CGEL, specifically the chapter on "right nonce-constituent coordination"; the relevant pages are pp. 1342-1343. My question is about ...
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How to quantify "hash browns"
Does "hash browns" refer to a countable thing? Or a substance? Have I had too many or too much "hash browns"?
The word "browns" seems to imply a quantity. But, is there ...
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How are the negative quantifiers "not many/not a lot of" interpreted?
I have edited the question for those nitpicking. It is a simple question.
The premise: "Many/a lot of" are multal degree quantifiers. "Not many/not a lot of" are their negatives....
user473438
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"For every variable x and y" or "For every variables x and y"? [closed]
Which one of these two sentences is grammatical?
(1) For every variable x and y, so and so...
(2) For every variables x and y, so and so...
Grammarly seems to prefer (1), but it sounds strange to my ...
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Why a "100% chance" of rain? [closed]
A 100% chance means it is certain, so it is not really 'chance' in that case. Someone I know said that rain is always uncertain, so why not say a 99% chance then?
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Some people or Many people!
In an English training book published by Oxford University, there's a conversation containing the line below:
Look, there's a building with many/some people outside. Turn left before you get there.
...
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A little/A few in negative sentences and questions?
So, I was scrolling through the Cambridge Dictionary definition for a little and a few and I noticed that all the examples are all positive sentences. (link here)
It got me thinking, would it be safe ...
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Is 'at least' really a positive polarity item? [duplicate]
My question (also copied below) was closed because "This question already has answers here". The linked answer says that negative polarity items only appear in negative contexts and positive ...
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What are adjectives for "a group that grows fast", and "a group that is comparatively static"?
The context is: I have an app where there are entries, sorted in tables. Think "Employees" and "Sales":
The "Employees" table is mostly static. It might go up or down a ...
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What does "they both can't be selected" mean? [duplicate]
The sentence "They both can't be selected", does that mean (1) None of them can be selected or (2) They both can't make it at the same time, only one of them can ?
If I, for example, want to ...
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"All green apples but 1" or "All but 1 green apples"
I would like to use phrase "all but one" in the sentence like "Except for the one green apple, all the other green apples are bad."
Which expression is not ambiguous? "All but ...
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quantifiers in comparatives adjectives [closed]
Good morning. I'd like to ask you something. I was confused about these words. They said " a bit, a little, slightly, a lot, and much" are all intensifiers in comparative sentences. But ...
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Is "distance" an "amount" or a "quantity"?
Distance can be measured so it would make sense for it to be a quantity. But this is where I arrive at an issue.
I think it's better if you say
a small amount of distance
than
a small quantity of ...
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Does "much of a (countable noun)" mean the same as "much (countable noun)?"
(a): The countries did not have much of a choice when it came to
vaccines.
(b): The countries did not have much choice when it came to vaccines.
Are the sentences above semantically identical? Are ...
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Quantifiers realised by a noun?
Let's consider the following sentence:
He drank [a glass of hot milk].
Here the brackated element is a Noun Phrase (NP). The head noun is glass. My question is can it be classified as a quantifier?
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Enumeration with "all"
Consider this sentence:
Your self-confidence, resilience and adaptability , all will help you integrate in this new competitive environment.
My question is about the comma before all. I tried to ...
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The multiple meanings of "any" in different circumstances
I am confused about the different usages of the word (any* depending on the particular circumstance, and would appreciate some clarification. For instance, if I make the statement
I have more ...
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Is there ambiguity in "by each" in this context?
The sentence:
"Find all malls that have been visited by each student attending Wolf
Secondary School"
I've recently encountered a question like this on a Computer Science test and ...
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Is there an Infix phrase for "any of x are y" in the english language?
For a collection of objects x and predicate y, you can say "all of x are y". For example, "It is probably summer if all of the Tree's leaves are green". But you can also say "...
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'All my life could be described as a chain of failures'. Is this sentence grammatically correct? [closed]
I'm a non-native speaker of English. Perhaps my question would seem a little bit silly.
All my life could be described as a chain of failures.
It seems to me that all my life is a disaster.
All my ...
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Meaning of Anyone [closed]
Could anyone help me?
If I say : Will you stay with me if I speak to anyone?
Anyone means : whatever who (sorry I can say otherwise) I mean "anyone" like : Anyone can work here, it will go!
Thanks :...
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Other or Another
I have a question about Quantitative words that I don't understand. Here it is:
Q: Istanbul is the biggest city in Turkey and one of the world's major
cities, with around 6.7 million people in the ...
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Do you find "only belongings of somebody" a little bit wierd?
In the sentence below, do you think it is weird to say "only belongings" for "belongings" is a collective noun.
The angry mob destroyed the man's only belongings.
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Using adjective as noun with "a lot of" quantifier
Why we should say “a lot of homeless people” and can’t say just “a lot of homeless” ?
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Quantifiers like few, a few, etc
I came across a question in my book of whose answer I did not find satisfactory. Please help me
Q) Improve the bracketed part of the sentence.
The guest stood quietly for (few moments).
The answer ...
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1
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Some food/dishes
Is it correct to understand "some of the side dishes" as "some of a specific amount of food in the side dishes", or literally "a dish in the side dishes"?
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“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”
Think of Star Trek's quote:
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” (or “the one”)
In the context of Star Trek, does the many/few refer to a specific group of many/few beings or many/...
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Is it correct from a function's perspective to say "a piece of diamond"?
I'm designing a test for EFL students, basic level, and one item that refers to uncountable nouns was the following: "When I travel, I only take a piece of _______ for my security." My distractor was "...
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as many as as much as
Which sentence is correct:
As many as 6% of US consumers say they are vegan, compared to just 1% in 2014. source
As much as 6% of US consumers say they are vegan, compared to just 1% in 2014.
...
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"any of my X" vs "any X of mine"?
What's the difference between "any of my X" and "any X of mine"? My impression, as a non-native speaker of English, is that the latter sounds more formal.
I searched COCA Corpus, and I found:
any of ...
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"I hope you all/both are doing well" vs "I hope you are all/both doing well"?
Do both convey the same message, or not?
I hope you all are doing well.
I hope you are all doing well.
It occurs to me that the same thing happens with both when I'm only addressing two people ...
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Why is it "less than 9" and not "fewer than 9" when we're talking about exam marks and scores?
This might sound like too elementary of a question but it suddenly popped into my head and started eating me. Why "I don't wanna be less than 90." and not "I don't wanna be fewer than 90."? Aren't ...
user323595
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Quantifier + comparative - so much drunk or so much drunker
I'd like to know what´s wrong in the sentence:
I didn't drink any more than the guys did, but I got so much drunker.
I believe it's the quantifier + the comparative that is wrong, but I'm not ...
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Use of ... all are?
Is the all in "John, Bob, and Sue all are hungry" redundant? Does it mean anything beyond "John, Bob, and Sue are hungry"?
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Do native speakers actually "feel" the difference between the following sentences?
[A] Haven’t they sold many tickets?
[B] Haven’t they sold a lot of tickets?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, there's a difference in meaning here.
When we use much and many in negative ...
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Single-word quantifiers for "zero or more"-like cardinalities
I'm on a trip to map different cardinalities to single-word quantifiers. In that context, I'm wondering if there is a word to say "zero or more", e.g. the same as what once is to "one and only one".
...
user355917
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Is “the most amount of {countable things}” ever an acceptable replacement for “the greatest amount of {countable things}”?
A recent BBC article reads in part,
Yellowstone officials say bison can run up to 30mph (50km/h) and are the animal responsible for the most amount of injuries within the park.
The phrase “the ...
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What is the quantifying determiner for durian/jackfruit?
What is the quantifying determiner for the tropical fruit 'durian'/'jackfruit'?
For instance:
I ate one durian
It is unclear if the person is eating the entire durian by themselves or just one ...
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Romeo and Juliet "Which then most sought where most might not be found" [closed]
In the following excerpt from Romeo and Juliet, what do the words "which" and "most" refer to? Does the relative clause have a main verb at all?
“I, measuring his affections by my own, which then ...
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What is the scope of the quantifier "some"?
I am writing a term paper in English and am not sure which of the two sentences below is correct:
some apples and pears
some apples and some pears
What I mean to say is that there are some apples ...
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After "some", plural or singular verb? [duplicate]
In these sentences:
"Some (composes/compose) delightful music"
"Some of them (write/writes) wonderful books"
Which form of the verb should I use?
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{This/that vs. these/those} + many + plural noun
From pag 419 of Mastering English An Advanced Grammar for Non-native and Native Speakers:
Elsewhere, demonstratives normally serve as determiners (as in that exact moment, this way, etc.). BUT in ...
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