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All, some, any, most, much / many, little / few

You can use the words above and also no with a noun (some food / few books etc.)

All cars have wheels.

Some cars can go faster than others.

(on a notice) NO CARS (means no cars allowed)

Many people drive too fast.

I don't go out very often. I'm at home most days.

You cannot say "all of cars" "most of people" etc.

Some people are very unfriendly. (not some of people)

Notice that we say most (not the most)

Most tourists don't visit this part of the city. (not the most tourists)

Some of…/ most of…/ none of…

You can use the words above (also none and half) with of. You can say some of (the people), most of (my friends),none of (this money) etc.

We use some of, most of (etc.) + the / this / that / these / those / my / his / Ann's…etc.

So you can say:

Some of the people, some of those people (but not some of people)

Most of my friends, most of Ann's friends (but not most of friends)

None of this money, none of their money (but not none of money)


Compare all… and all (of) the…:

All flowers are beautiful.  (all flowers in general)

All of the flowers in this garden are beautiful.  (a particular group of flowers)

Before it / us / you / them you need of after all and half (all of, half of):

All of us  (not all us), half of them  (not half them)

Both / both of, neither / neither of, either / either of

When you use both / neither / either + of, you always need the / these / those / my / your / his / Tom's (etc.). You cannot say "both of restaurants".

Both of these restaurants are very good.

You can say:

Both my parents are from Prague. Or Both of my parents…

You can use both of / neither of / either of + us / you / them:

(Talking to two people)  Can either of you speak Czech?

I asked two people the way to the station but neither of them knew.


You must say "both of" before us / you / them (of is necessary):

Both of us were very tired.

I couldn't decide which of the two shirts to buy. I liked both. 


You can say:

both…and…:  Both Mary and John were late.

neither…nor…:  Neither Pam nor Robert came to the dance party.

either… or…:  I'm not sure where he's from. He's either Mexican or Costa Rican.

Compare either / neither / both and any / none / all

There are two good motels in the city. There are many good motels in the city.

You can stay at either of them. You can stay at any of them.

We tried two motels. Neither of them had We tried a lot of motels. None of them

any rooms. / Both of them were full. had any rooms. / All of them were full.

All, every and whole

All and whole

Whole means complete, entire. Most often we use whole with singular nouns:

Did you read the whole book?  (all the book, not just a part of it)

She has lived her whole life in Prague.


You can also use: a whole…:

Jim was so hungry; he ate a whole packet of biscuits.  (a complete packet)

We do not normally use whole with uncountable nouns. We say:

I've spent all the money you gave me.  (not the whole money)


Every / all / whole with time words

We use every to say how often something happens. So we say every day / every Monday / every ten minutes / every four weeks etc.

When we were on vacation, we went to the beach every day.  (not all days)

The bus service is very good. There's a bus every ten minutes.

Tina gets paid every three weeks.


All day / the whole day means the complete day from beginning to end:

We spent all day / the whole day on the beach.

He was very quiet. He didn't say a word all evening / the whole evening.

Note that we say all day (not all the day), all week (not all the week) etc.

Compare all the time and every time:

They never go out. They are at home all the time.  (always – not "every time")

Every time I see you, you look different.  (each time, on every occasion)

Each and every

Each and every are similar in meaning. Often it is possible to use each or every:

Each time (or Every time) I see you, you look different.

There's a telephone in each room (or every room) of the house.

But each and every are not exactly the same.


Review the difference:

We use each when we think of things We use every when we think of things as a

separately, one by one. group. The meaning is similar to all.

Study each sentence carefully. Every sentence must have a verb.

(study the sentences one by one) (all sentences in general)

Each is more usual for a small number: Every is more usual for a large number:

There were four books on the table. Chris loves reading. He has read every

Each book was a different color. book in the library.  (all the books)

(in a card game)  At the beginning I would like to visit every country in the

of the game, each player has three world.  (all the countries)

cards.

Each can be used for two things:

In a football game, each team has 11 players.

We use every to say how often something happens:

There's a bus every ten minutes.

You can say each of (the…/ these…etc.): You can say every one of… (not every of)

Each of the books is a different color. I've read every one of those books.

You can also use each in the middle or at the end of a sentence. For example:

The students were each given a book.  (Each student was given a book)

These oranges cost 30 cents each.

Everyone and every one

Everyone (one word) is only for people ("everybody"). Every one (two words) is for things or people, and is similar toeach one.

Everyone enjoyed the party.  (Everybody)

He is invited to lots of parties and he goes to every one.  (to every party)