5. Quantifiers + Countable Nouns

Quantifiers + Single Countable Nouns

Examples of quantifiers used here with single countable nouns include a , an , each , either , every , neither , and one .

Examples of quantifiers used here with single countable nouns include a , an , each , either , neither , and one .

Examples:

  • A Â rubber duck is floating in the bath.
  • An  evil monster like him has no friends.
  • He had a tattoo of a dragon breathing fire on  each  arm.
  • We can follow either  path to the tribal village.
  • Every  child received a lollipop.
  • Neither  pineapple is juicy enough for me.
  • One page is missing from my cookery book.

Quantifiers + Plural Countable Nouns

Quantifiers used with plural countable nouns are both , many , several , and two . 

Examples:

  • Both  donkeys are braying at the same time.
  • I think he is putting too many  eggs in one basket.
  • Someone stole several  piglets from his farm.
  • We baited the two  mousetraps with cheese.

'Few' and 'a few'

Few  and a few  come before plural countable nouns. Few  (without a ) conveys a negative meaning of only a small number  or hardly any  and  not enough ; a few  has a positive meaning of having some  but enough .

Examples:

  • Grandmother gave me a few  apples while one will do.

    (= Not many but enough or in this case, more than enough.)
  • There are few dentist clinics in this big town.
  • Few  passers-by stopped to look at my paintings. (= Almost no passers-by were interested.)

Quantity word + of: Countable Nouns

The quantity word + of  are used when there are specific countable nouns or noun phrases. If they are general ones, the quantity word + of  are not used. The quantity word + of  terms used here are a couple of ,  a great number of , a large number of , a number of , either of , and most of .

Examples:

  • A  couple of  people at the next table began to talk louder and louder after the third round of drinks.
  • They looked helplessly as a great number of  locusts swarmed the area. 
  • Illegal loggers came again to cut down a large number of  trees. .
  • A number of  her friends agreed with her that she looked overweight.
  • We will use either of  the parents’ cars for the trip.
  • Most of  the shops in the area are not selling what you want..

'The number of' and 'A number of'

The word number  is singular. But when it is followed by of  (number + of), it can be the number of  or a number of . The difference between these two quantifier expressions is that the number of  is followed by a singular verb while a number of  is followed by a plural verb. The reason is the number of  is not used to mean many ; It is just a collective term of many , while a number of  is used to mean many .

Examples:

  • The number of tourists who visit this resort at the weekends is in the hundreds.
  • A number of tourists have been robbed over the weekends.
  • No : There is a number of books on palmistry in the library..
  • Yes : There are a number of books on palmistry in the library.

'Cardinal number' and 'Ordinal number'

A cardinal number  is used to show the quantity of people or things. It is used as a determiner.

Examples:

  • Twenty  people were badly hurt in an accident involving a motorcycle, a car, a bus and a lorry.
  • The thirty-two  children form an orderly queue.
  • We counted forty-six  pigs in the farm.
  • The car-park can accommodate up to sixty-five  cars.

An ordinal number  is a number such as first, second, thirtieth, twenty-third, or 200 th  that shows the numerical position of someone or something in a list. An ordinal number is used as a determiner.

Examples:

  • We occupied the third  row from the front.
  • We are celebrating our tenth  wedding anniversary this year.
  • I was the twelfth  person in the queue when I joined it.
  • She received a special gift for being the thousandth  customer in the new supermarket.