Quantity determinatives

Item

Class (CGEL)

Example

Other Uses

a couple of

Existential / complex determinative + of

A couple of students were absent.

couple as noun

a few

Existential (complex determinative)

A few questions were raised.

few as pronoun/noun

a great many

Scalar / proportional determinative

A great many people attended the conference.

many as pronoun/noun

a handful of

Existential / complex determinative + of

A handful of students volunteered.

handful as noun

a number of

Complex determinative + of

A number of issues were discussed.

number as noun

all

Universal determinative

All students passed.

all as pronoun/adverb

almost all

Universal / proportional (approximation)

Almost all students passed.

all as pronoun/adverb

any

Non-assertive existential determinative

Any solution will do.

any as pronoun/adverb

both

Proportional determinative

Both candidates agreed.

both as pronoun

each

Universal distributive determinative

Each member voted.

each as pronoun

every

Universal distributive determinative

Every child smiled.

every rarely used as noun (poetic)

few

Scalar determinative (count plural)

Few opportunities remain.

few as pronoun/noun

fewer

Comparative scalar determinative (count plural)

Fewer mistakes were made.

half

Fractional determinative

Half the class left early.

half as noun/adverb

many

Scalar determinative (count plural)

Many people complained.

many as pronoun/noun

most

Superlative scalar / proportional determinative

Most students agreed. (context-dependent; can be quantifier with count NP)

most as pronoun/adverb

nearly all

Universal / proportional (approximation)

Nearly all members supported the plan.

all as pronoun/adverb

neither

Proportional / negative determinative

Neither option works.

neither as pronoun

no

Negative determinative

No objections were raised.

no as determiner/pronoun/interjection

none (of)

Negative determinative (partitive/fused-head)

None of the answers was correct.

none as pronoun

not many

Negative / scalar determinative

Not many students attended.

many as pronoun/noun

one

Cardinal determinative

One student was absent.

one as pronoun/noun

plenty of

Existential / proportional determinative

Plenty of people attended the festival.

plenty as noun

several

Existential determinative

Several issues remain.

several as pronoun

some

Existential determinative

Some students objected.

some as pronoun

too few

Negative / scalar determinative

Too few opportunities remain.

few as pronoun/noun

twenty

Cardinal determinative

Twenty people attended.

twenty as noun

two

Cardinal determinative

Two errors were found.

two as noun