Qualifiers and Quantifiers

Qualifiers are words or phrases which give the qualities of a word, adding more detail to the sentence; they are frequently adjectives or adverbs. Quantifiers are words or phrases which describe the quantity, the number of things you’re discussing. For instance, the sentence, “The boy has mangoes” is a fine sentence, but it doesn’t give a lot of detail. If qualifiers are added (“The young boy has good mangoes”), the sentence becomes more specific. If quantifiers are added (“The young boy has three good mangoes”), the reader is able to create a very specific image in their mind.

Quantifiers With Nouns

In English, nouns are separated into two categories: “countable” and “uncountable”. If a noun is countable, we use quantifiers like, many, few, a number of, several, a great number of, and a majority of. For uncountable nouns, we use quantifiers like, much, little, less, least, a little bit of, and a great deal of.



Incorrect: This check-out lane is for customers with sixteen items or less.

“Sixteen items” is a countable noun, so “less” should be replaced with “fewer”.



Incorrect: At the dairy counter, I picked up a large number of cheese for the party.

Because “cheese” is an uncountable noun, “a large number of” should be changed to “a large amount of”.



Correct: At the dairy counter, I picked up a large number of different cheeses for the party.

Here, “different cheeses” is considered a countable noun, so the quantifier is correct.

Each and Every

“Each” and “every” are generally used with singular countable nouns, not with plural nouns. Both words imply “one”: one of a group, or one group. Included in this rule is “every few ___”, which implies “one group”.



Incorrect: Please give one sheet of paper to each students.

“Students” is a plural noun. Because the sentence uses “each”, the noun should be changed to the singular: student.



Incorrect: Martial arts should be practiced every days, if one is going to improve.

“Days” is a plural noun. Because the sentence uses “every”, the noun should be changed to the singular: day.



Correct: Every few days, they each want a turn to choose the dinner menu.

The plural noun, “days” is correct in this clause because “every few” implies one group of days. “They each” is correct because it implies one of the group of “they”.

Lots/Plenty Of + Singular Countable Noun

The quantifiers, “lots of” and “plenty of”, imply a quantity of more than one. If the noun modified by these quantifiers is countable, it should be in the plural.



Incorrect: The cake is best served with lots of chocolate shaving on top.

Because the quantifier, “lots of”, is used, “shaving” should be changed to “shavings”.

Some and Any

In English, we use the term, “some”, in affirmative (positive) sentences; “some” implies a specific type, form or quantity. “Any” is used in conditional or negative sentences, and implies nothing specific.



Incorrect: The waitress offered the customer any coffee.

Because the sentence is in the affirmative, “any” should be changed to “some”.



Incorrect: If there are some chores to do, just let me know.

Because the sentence is conditional, “some” should be changed to “any”.



Incorrect: I don’t have some eggs.

Because the sentence is in the negative, “some” should be changed to “any”.

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