Study Resource: Quantity words for describing nouns in English
The tables below provide quantity words that can be used with mass nouns vs. count nouns.
| Quantity words for all nouns | ||
|---|---|---|
a lot of | a lot of (the) people | a lot of (the) rice |
all (of the) | all (of the) people | all (of the) rice |
most (of the) | most (of the) people | most (of the) rice |
half/a quarter… (of) the | half (of) the people | half (of) the rice |
some (of the) | some (of the) people | some (of the) rice |
plenty of (the) | plenty of (the) people | plenty of (the) rice |
more (of the) | more (of the) people | more (of the) rice |
no | no people | no rice |
none (of the) | none of the people | none of the rice |
any (of the) | any (of the) people | any (of the) rice |
enough (of the) | enough (of the) people | enough (of the) rice |
| Quantity words for only count nouns | ||
|---|---|---|
every1 | every person* | ❌every rice |
each (of the)1 | each person* each of the people | ❌each rice ❌each of the rice |
several (of the) | several (of the) people | ❌several (of the) rice |
a (large/small/sufficient…) number of (the)2 | a large number of (the) people | ❌a large number of (the) rice |
a few (of the) | a few (of the) people | ❌a few (of the) rice |
few / fewer (of the) | few (of the) people | ❌few (of the) rice |
many (of the) | many (of the) people | ❌many (of the) rice |
either / neither (of the) | either person either of the people | ❌either rice ❌either of the rice |
both (of the) | both (of the) people | ❌both (of the) rice |
indefinite article (a/an)1 | a person | ❌a rice |
one1 | one person | ❌one rice |
plural numbers (zero, two, 100...) | zero people, two people, 100 people | ❌zero rice, ❌two rice, ❌100 rice |
another (of the)1 | another person another of the people | ❌another rice ❌another of the rice |
| Quantity words for only mass nouns | ||
|---|---|---|
a little (of the) | ❌a little (of the) people | a little (of the) rice |
a (large/small/sufficient…) amount of (the)2 | ❌a small amount of (the) people | a small amount of (the) rice |
less (of the) | ❌less (of the) people | less (of the) rice |
much (of the) | ❌much (of the) people | much (of the) rice |
a great deal of (the) | ❌a great deal of (the) people | a great deal of (the) rice |
Notes:
1These quantity words follow some special rules:
When used directly before a count noun (as an adjective) the count noun will be singular.
When used before an of phrase (as an indefinite pronoun), the count noun will be plural.
When used as the subject or to describe the subject, the verb will be singular.
All other quantity words follow this pattern:
When used before a noun (as an adjective), the noun will be plural if it’s a count noun and singular if it’s a mass noun.
When used before an of phrase (as an indefinite pronoun), the noun after of will be plural if it’s a count noun and singular if it’s a mass noun.
When used as the subject or to describe the subject, the verb will be plural if the word describes or replaces a count noun, or singular if the word describes or replaces a mass noun.
2Notice that number is used with count nouns just like amount is used with mass nouns.