Quantifiers
All or none
| All (of) the people are here. | 100% are here. |
| Not all (of) the people are here. | Less than 100% |
| All (of) the people are not here. | Not well defined. Could be “not all” or “none” |
| None of the people are here. | 0% Focus on “people” (are) |
| Not any of the people are here. | 0% Focus on “each” individual (is). |
Some, Most, Many, Several, Few, A Few, A lot of
| Some (of the) people are here. | Focus: positive |
| Some (of the) people are not here. | Focus: negative |
| Most of the people are here. | Focus: positive |
| Most of the people are not here | (uncommon) |
| Many (of the) people are here. | Focus: positive |
| Many (of the) people are not here. | (uncommon) |
| Not many (of the) people are here. | Focus: positive |
| Several (0f the) people are here | Focus: positive |
| A few (of the) people are here. | Focus: positive. At least some are here. |
| Few (of the) people are here. | Focus: negative. More people were expected. |
| A lot of (the) people are here. | Focus: positive |
| A lot of (the) people are not here. | Focus: negative |
| Not a lot of (the) people are here. | Focus: negative. More people were expected. |
| Three (of the) people are here. | Focus: positive |
| Three (of the) people are not here. | Focus: negative |
| Half of the people are here. | Focus: positive 50% are here. |
| Half of the people are not here. | Focus: negative 50% are absent. |
Both, neither, one
| Both (of the) people are here. | 100% are here |
| One of the people is here. | Focus: positive |
| One of the people is not here. | Focus: negative |
| Neither of the people is here. | Focus: negative |
| Neither of the people are here. | Focus: 100% are absent. (Very informal) |
In questions
| Are all of the people here? | Yes, all of them are. Some of them are. Most of them are. No, none of them are. No, not many of them are. |
| Are most of the people here? | No, only some of them are. |
| Are any of the people here? | Yes, some of them are. Yes, most of them are. No, none of them are. |
Answers may differ depending on the questions:
| Is anyone here? | Yes, I am. (X) No, Jim isn’t here. Even if only one person is here, the answer is positive. (One person can answer for the whole group.) The answer can be negative only if 0% are here. For 1-100%, the answer is positive. |
| Is everyone here? | (X) Yes, I am. Yes, we (all) are. Now, Jim isn’t here. If even one person is not here, the answer is negative. )One person cannot independently speak for the group.) The answer can be positive only if 100% are here. For 0-99%, the answer is negative. Other possibilities: Everyone but/except Bill is here. Most of us are here. Almost all of us are here. |
Answers may differ depending on the questions:
| All | All | All the people are here. | All the sugar is gone. |
| Some | Some | Some people are here. | Some of the sugar is gone. |
| A lot of | A lot of | A lot of people are here. | A lot of sugar is gone. |
| Many | Much | Many people are here. | Much of the sugar is gone. Is there much sugar left? |
| Few | Little | Few people are here. | There isn’t much left. |
| A little | A few | A few people are here. | There’s little sugar left. |
| None | None | None of the people are here. | None of the sugar is left. |
For Practice See:
A Little-A Few (from The Internet TESL Journal)
Much-Many (from The Internet TESL Journal)
See also :
Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers (from Guide to Grammar and Writing)
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