:Areas of comparison

There are so many quantifiers in English and Arabic that detailed comparison would be
unreasonably lengthy. The comparison of quantifiers between Arabic and English may focus
:on these areas

Is the quantifiers specific or general? For example, the Q three is specific, but the Q some .1
.is general

‫ أربعون كتابا‬,Is the noun singular or plural, e.g., one apple, two apples .2

‫معظم‬, Is the noun countable or uncountable? Look at these: some water, some books .3
‫الطالب‬.

one ,‫ تفاحة واحدة‬,Does the Q come before or after the noun ? Examine these: most books )4
.apple

‫ قليل من‬,Is a selector allowed between the Q and the N? look at these: one of the books )5
.‫الماء‬

, ‫ امرأة واحدة‬,Is the Q sensitive to the gender of the N? look at these: one man, one woman )6
.‫رجل واحد‬

Is the N specific or non-specific? You can compare QN structures in E and A by answering )7

the above questions. Apply them to the Q in E and its equivalent in A and to the
.accompanying N, and then the comparison will be self-evident

We use quantifiers when we want to give someone information

about the number of something: how much or how many.

?How much money have you got

?How many students are in this class

Sometimes we use a quantifier in the place of a determiner:

 
.Most children start school at the age of five
.We ate  some bread and butter
We saw  lots of birds

Quantifiers with countable and

uncountable nouns:

all some more a lot of enough

 no any most lots of less

We can use these quantifiers

with both countable and uncountable nouns:
– We have lots of time

joe has lots of friends-

I can't go out I've got no money -

there was a lot of food but no drinks -

Quantifiers with countable nouns:

Some quantifiers can be used only with count nouns such as:
 Many( there are many people at the park)
 How many (how many pizzas did you cook? )
 Too many (you have too many shirts)
 A few (I need a few hours of sleep )

(not) many each either (a) few

several both neither fewer 

We also have colloquial forms that are used only with countable
nouns such as :

a couple of hundreds of thousands of

As in
I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.
There were hundreds of people at the meeting
Quantifiers with uncountable nouns:

Some quantifiers can be used only with uncountable nouns:

 Much (there is not much water on the fridge)

 How much( how much sugar does the tea need)

 Too much( I think you are putting too much salt in your steak )

 A little ( would you like a little coffee )

Quantifiers with both countable and

uncountable nouns:

 A lot of (we've got a lot of homework to do )

 Enough (there aren't enough series on Netflix )

 No(I've got no many at all )

 Any ( she can't come up with any good ideas )

 Plenty of ; a sufficient amount of (you've got plenty of time

to find a job )

:Singular quantifiers

Quantifiers include words such as all, most, many, more, some, none, few, both, 
each, and every. Some quantifiers are singular, some are plural, and some may be
either. Be sure to choose an appropriate verb whenever the subject includes
.a quantifier
every and each
We use the quantifiers every and each with singular nouns to
mean all:
We use each to refer to individual things in a group or a list of two or more
things. It is often similar in meaning to every, but we use every to refer to a
group or list of three or more things.
Compare

Each stresses individual members of a

Each one takes turns cooking dinner in group.
the evenings.
Each refers to two or more people who
share the work.

Everyone takes turns cooking dinner in Every stresses all the members of the

the evenings. complete group.
Every refers to three or more people.

We use adverbs such as almost and nearly with every, but not with each:

Almost every car in the car park was new.
Not: Almost each car …
We can use each of + pronoun or each of + determiner + noun, but
with every we must use every one + pronoun or every one + determiner +
noun:
Each of us has a bicycle.
Every one of us has a bicycle.
Not: Every of us …
Each of the children received a special gift.
Every one of the children received a special gift.
Not: Every of the children …

There was a party in every street. (= There were parties in all the
streets.)
Every shop was decorated with flowers. (= All the shops were
decorated with flowers.)
Each child was given a prize. (= All the children were given a
prize.)
There was a prize in each competition. (= There were prizes in all
the competitions.)
We do not use a determiner with every and each:
Every shop was decorated with flowers. (NOT The every shop)
Each child was given a prize. (NOT The each child)
ٌّ‫ ُكل‬is a noun which means “each” or “every” and sometimes means “all”
depending upon the context. When ‫ كل‬is followed by an indefinite noun, it is
translated as “each” or “every.” For example, ‫ب‬ ٍ ‫ كلُّ طال‬means “each student” or
“every student.” The phrase ‫ب‬ ٍ ‫ كلُّ طال‬is an idaafa. That is why there is no nunation

Because ‫ كل‬is a noun it can be in any case as required by its usage in the
sentence. For example: ‫ب في المكتب ِة‬ ُ
ٍ ‫قرأت ك َّل كتا‬. Here ‫ كل‬is in the accusative because
it is the object of the verb.
So far, the examples using ‫ كل‬have been indefinite. When ‫ كل‬is followed by a
definite singular noun ‫ كل‬is usually translated as “all.” For example ‫ب‬
ِ ‫ كل الكتا‬means
“all of the book.”
When the word following ‫ كل‬is plural, that word is usually also definite. In this case
also ‫ كل‬is translated as “all.” For example ‫ت‬
ِ ‫“ ك ُل الطالبا‬all of the students (fem).”
‫ كلٌّ ِمن‬means “everyone of” or “each one of.” For example ُ ‫شاهدت كالً من الموظفين في‬
‫“ االجتماع‬I saw every one of the employees at the meeting.”

‫ الكل‬means “all of it” or “everyone” if it refers to people.

READ THE BOOK PAGE 121

quantifier-verb agreement:
Subject-verb agreement

The way the verb is matched to the subject in terms of number (singular or plural).

There is/are…

In sentences beginning with There is or There are, the verb agrees with the noun
phrase that follows it.
There are many questions.

There is a question.

There is much questioning.

Agreement

The verb agrees with the subject (head noun). Do not be misled by a phrase that
comes between the subject and the verb.

One of the boxes is open.

The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious

The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring.

The woman with those engineers leads the conference.

Complex subjects

A noun phrase can contain two or more nouns. The verb that follows will agree with
the head noun.

A book of answers comes with the study guide.

Read the book page 121