Количествени определители на съществителните (Quantifiers)

08/03/2023 | Граматически урок

За за пристъпим към разяснение в употребата на количествените определители в английския език следва да уточник критериите, върху които провим избора за съответното такова. Критериите са следните:

Броимо или неброимо съществително
Тип изречение: разказно, въпросително, отрицателно.

Относно първият критерий знаем, че съществителните биват броими и неброими. Съответно броими са онези, които могат да се преброят, а неброими, онези които на могат.

Ще отделим повече внимание на неброимите съществителни имена, тъй като при тях допускаме повече грешки.

Сред неброимите съществителни попадат:

Течности
В насипно състояние
В газообразно състояние
Абстрактни съществителни
Обобщителни понятия
Материалите

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Second, there are two types of common noun. These are countable nouns and uncountable nouns. It's really important to know if a noun is countable or uncountable, because it changes how we use it in a sentence.

Countable nouns are things which can be counted like 'table', 'apple' or 'boy'. They usually change their form when we make a plural (they often add an 's'), and can be used with either a singular or a plural verb: one book falls, two books fall.

On the other hand, uncountable nouns are usually things which can't easily be counted, like 'love', 'rice' or 'water'. Uncountable nouns do not make a plural or change their form, and they are always used with a singular verb. We can't say ~~one rice, two rices~~.

However, sometimes there's not much logic to whether a noun is countable or uncountable. For example, 'work' is uncountable but 'job' is countable. 'Trip' is countable, but 'travel' is uncountable. 'Word' is countable, but 'vocabulary' is uncountable. Sometimes, a noun is even different in US English and UK English, like 'Lego' or 'accommodation' (both uncountable in the UK but countable in the US).

Here are some kinds of nouns that are often uncountable:

Abstract nouns (nouns that talk about ideas): love, happiness, peace, democracy.
Subjects from school or university: Maths, French, history.
Materials: metal, wood, plastic.
Liquids: water, coffee, milk.
Gases: air, oxygen, carbon dioxide.
Things that are made up of lots of small pieces: sand, rice, salt.

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Here's a list of some uncountable nouns that we often use:

advice	Could you give me some advice?
dust	The old table was covered with dust.
electricity	Electricity runs through this wire.
equipment	Could you give me a list of the equipment we need for the trip?
evidence	What evidence is there against John?
fog	I could hardly see because of the thick fog.
fun	We had a lot of fun at the party.
furniture	I really need to buy some new furniture for my new flat.
happiness	How can we increase our happiness?
help	The teacher would like some help with moving the chairs.
homework	How much homework do you get?
information	Could you give me some information about things to do in London?
knowledge	He has such a lot of knowledge about history.
luck	I need a bit of luck!
luggage	Please put leave all your luggage at the hotel and we'll pick it up later.
money	How much money do you have in your purse?
news	The news is good! John has passed the exam!
pasta	I love pasta!
progress	We haven't made much progress on our project.
research	Julie is doing research in neuroscience.
snow	There's been a lot of snow this year.
spaghetti	Could we have spaghetti with meatballs?
spinach	She likes spinach with garlic.
traffic	Was there a lot of traffic in central London?
vocabulary	Vocabulary is very important in language learning.
work	Do you have any work to do this weekend?

Words that can be both countable and uncountable

Many, many words can be used in both an uncountable way and a countable way. This is especially true of uncountable food and drink, such as 'coffee' or 'yogurt'. When we're talking in general about coffee or yogurt, the words are uncountable. But, we can use them in a countable way when we mean 'one cup of' or 'one pot of':

Uncountable: Coffee is my favourite drink.
Countable: Could you buy two coffees and two teas, please?
Uncountable: My children eat a lot of yogurt.
Countable: I bought a pack of six yogurts.

Other words that act like this include: water, juice, salad, curry and cake.

Another way that we use uncountable nouns in a countable way is when we use the word to mean 'a kind of' or 'a type of':

Uncountable: She loves cheese.
Countable: That shop sells lots of cheeses (=different kinds of cheese).

Other words that can be used in this way include jam, wood, plastic, bread, metal, fabric. There are a few words that change their meaning depending on if they used in a countable way or an uncountable way. For example:

Hair	Countable = one hair Urg! There's a hair in my food!	Uncountable = all the hair on a person's head She has very beautiful hair.
Paper	Countable = a newspaper I bought all the papers this morning.	Uncountable = paper in general Could you give me some paper to write on?
Light	Countable = a single lamp or light bulb The Christmas tree was covered in lights.	Uncountable = light in general The room was full of light.
Experience	Countable = one event I travelled to Thailand and it was a really great experience.	Uncountable = when you've done something for a long time She has a lot of experience with children.

Nouns which are always plural

Some nouns are always used in a plural form and with a plural verb. You can't count them in the normal way. Sometimes you can use phrases like 'one pair of' or 'three pairs of' if you'd like to count them. Nouns like this are often clothes, or tools that have two parts. Here's a list of words that are always plural:

Trousers	My trousers are too long.
Tights	I need to wear tights with this dress.
Shorts	He bought some blue shorts.
Scissors	There are three pairs of scissors in the drawer.
Tweezers	Could you pass me those tweezers?
Binoculars	She gave me some binoculars.
Glasses (for seeing better)	I've lost my glasses!
Sunglasses	My sunglasses are in my bag.
Clothes	She put her clothes in the suitcase.
Belongings	Whose belongings are these?
Congratulations	Many congratulations!

Предстои да разгледаме следните три вида количествени определители на съществителните в английския език:

Little, a little, few, a few
Much, many, a lot of
Some, any, no

Little, a little, few, a few

Little, a little използваме за неброимите съществителни

Few, a few използваме за броимите съществителни.

Присъствието на неопределителния член А придава достатъчност на въпреки малкото количество или брой.

When we say 'a little' or 'a few', we mean a small amount, but it's enough:

John: Let's go out tonight.
Lucy: Okay. I have a little money, enough for the cinema at least.

On the other hand, 'little' or 'few' usually give us a different impression. These also mean a small amount, but this time the amount is almost nothing. If the noun is something that we want (like money or friends) then using 'little' or 'few' means that we don't have enough:

John: Let's go out tonight.
Lucy: Sorry, I have little money. I really can't afford to go out.

Of course, if we use 'few' or 'little' with a noun that we don't want, then it can have a positive meaning. It's good to have nearly no problems, for example:

There have been few problems with the new system, thankfully!
Luckily, there is little crime in my town.
I'm so pleased that I have few arguments with my family.
It's great that there's been very little bad weather this month.

Much, many, a lot of, lots of:

Използваме количествените определители much, many, a lot of, lots of за да изразим количество или степен.

Much, many

Употребяваме much със съществително име, което е неброимо, а many с броими съществителни в множествено число.

I haven’t got much change. I’ve only got a ten euro note.
Are there many campsites near you?

Употребата на much, many, a lot of, lots of се определя също така и от типа изречение: разказно, въпрос или отрицание.

Във въпросително и отрицателно изречение използваме само much и many, а в разказно изречение употребяваме a lot of и lots of.

Примери:

Questions and negatives

We usually use much and many with questions (?) and negatives (−):

Is there much unemployment in that area?
How many eggs are in this cake?
Do you think many people will come?
It was pouring with rain but there wasn’t much wind.
There aren’t many women priests.

Изключение

Affirmatives

In affirmative clauses we sometimes use much and many in more formal styles:

There is much concern about drug addiction in the US.
He had heard many stories about Yanto and he knew he was trouble.
In informal styles, we prefer to use lots of or a lot of:
I went shopping and spent a lot of money.

Not: ~~I went shopping and spent much money~~.

Much of, many of

When we use much or many before articles (a/an, the), demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your) or pronouns (him, them), we need to use of:

How much of this book is fact and how much is fiction?
Claude, the seventeenth-century French painter, spent much of his life in Italy.
Unfortunately, not many of the photographers were there.
How many of them can dance, sing and act?

This much, that much

Spoken English:

When we are talking to someone face-to-face, we can use this much and that much with a hand gesture to indicate quantity:

[the speaker indicates a small amount with his fingers]

I only had that much cake.

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***A lot of, lots of* with a noun**

We use a lot of and lots of in informal styles. Lots of is more informal than a lot of. A lot of and lots of can both be used with plural countable nouns and with singular uncountable nouns for affirmatives, negatives, and questions:

We’ve got lots of things to do.
That’s a lot of money.
There weren’t a lot of choices.
Can you hurry up? I don’t have a lot of time.
Are there a lot of good players at your tennis club?
Have you eaten lots of chocolate?

***Too much, too many* and so much, *so many***

Too much, too many with a noun

We often use too before much and many. It means ‘more than necessary’. We can use too much before an uncountable noun and too many before a plural noun, or without a noun when the noun is obvious:

I bought too much food. We had to throw some of it away.
They had a lot of work to do. Too much. (too much work)
There are too many cars on the road. More people should use public transport.
There are 35 children in each class. It’s too many. (too many children)
So much, so many with a noun

We use so rather than very before much and many in affirmative clauses to emphasise a very large quantity of something:

He has so much money!

Not: ~~He has very much money!~~

There were so many jobs to do.

As much as, as many as

When we want to make comparisons connected with quantity, we use as much as and as many as:

Try and find out as much information as you can.

You can ask as many questions as you want.

Much, many and a lot of, lots of: typical errors

We use much with uncountable nouns and many with countable nouns:

It doesn’t need much effort.

Not: ~~It doesn’t need many effort~~.

We usually use a lot of and lots of rather than much and many in informal affirmative clauses:

There are a lot of monuments and a lot of historic buildings in Rome.

Not: ~~There are many monuments and many historic buildings in Rome~~.

She gave me a lot of information.

Not: ~~She gave me much information~~.

We don’t use of after much or many when they come immediately before a noun without an article (a/an, the), demonstrative (this, that), possessive (my, your) or pronoun (him, them):

They haven’t made many friends here.

Not: ~~They haven’t made many of friends here~~.