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Module 5

Lesson 3

Student’s Book pages 51–52

                              

Grammar

Quantity words and expressions

 

Look at these examples to see how to use countable and uncountable nouns in a sentence.

I'm making a cup of tea.
There's some money on the table.
Have we got any bread?
How many chairs do we need?
How much milk have we got?

(alittle and (afew are quantifiers meaning ‘some’. Little and few have negative meanings. We use them to mean ‘not as much as may be expected or wished for’.

Compare

All she wanted was a few moments on her own.

some, a small number

She had few moments on her own.

not many/almost none

She saves a little money every month.

some, a small amount

They had little money to spend.

not much/almost nothing

A:

Have you got any money?

B:

Yesa little.

some, a small amount

A:

Have you got any money?

B:

No, very little.

not much/almost nothing

Much, many with a noun

We use much with singular uncountable nouns and many with plural nouns:

[talking about money]

I haven’t got much change. I’ve only got a ten euro note.

Are there many campsites near you?

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.

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.