Unit 6

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Unit 6

Determiners and quantifiers

Exercise 1.2 (page 47)

Listen to three people giving their views on running.

Which of the benefits and possible problems do the speakers mention?

Which benefits are mentioned?

Answers

• enjoyment
• (personal) satisfaction
• fitness (good for heart and lungs)
• sleep better
• social contact / friendships 

Which problems are mentioned?

Answers

• time commitment
• running injuries (aching muscles, back pain)
• running in bad weather is unpleasant

Exercise 1.3 (page 47)

Listen again and fill in the gaps

Answers

1b. many

2a. each

2b. every

3a. a few

3b. the few

4a. less

4b. fewer

What are determiners and quantifiers?

These are words to specify how many or how much of something there is, without giving an exact number.

Which determiners
and quantifiers
can you think of?

Determiners and quantifiers

Examples:

• much, many, a lot of, lots of, all, whole, every, each; (a/the) few, little, less, fewer (than), much of, many of

• Example:
  Many of you might know this. ⇐ not specified how many.

• Exception:
  no, none, not, not a, not any (zero)
  neither (zero out of two) and both (two).

Much / many

• Much is used with uncountable nouns
  much gas, much coffee, much air, much sugar

• Many is used with countable nouns
  many students, many people, many words, many things

• Much is used when the meaning is unclear from the context:
  We didn’t do much after school. (much what?)
  
  
• Much of and many of are used when we mean a large part or number of:
  Many of you already know this.
  Much of the race was nothing more than crashes.

• We use many rather than lots of or a lot of with time expressions. (hours, days, weeks, etc.)
  I have spent many hours training.

Few(er) / Little / Less

• A few / few / fewer is used with countable nouns:
  few people, few students, a few children, fewer cigarettes
  
  
• A little / little / less is used with uncountable nouns
  a little work, little pain, less money

All, both, whole

• All is usually after the verb be, after the first auxiliary verb or, when they are not present, before the verb.
  It is all just a big mistake.
  They could all have been the killer.
  We all went shopping together.

• If we talk about two people or things, we use both (of) in affirmative sentences and neither (of) in negations:
  Both of you, stop talking now! Neither of you can leave.

• Before singular countable nouns we usually use the whole instead of all (of).
  The whole idea was terrible.

• Except when it comes to the words day, week, night, month and the seasons.
  He worked all summer to get his house ready.

Neither instead of none

• We use the word neither instead of none when we talk about two people or things.
  Situation: My two nephews are fighting about who can play on the PS5.
  
  
• Neither of you can play on the Playstation today!

Every, each

• We use every to talk about events at regular intervals:
  every kilometer, every single day, every week, every six months

• We use each when we talk about people or things in a pair
  each knee, each day of the weekend

• Easy way to remember:
  Have you got two or more people or things? each
  Have you got three or more people or things? every

I think I understand the different determiners and how to use them.

Yes

Mostly. but I don't need any help.

Mostly, but I still would like some help.

Not at all and need some help.

Continue

In pairs / groups of three:
Continue working on exercises 3.1 - 3.4 on pages 51 & 52.

Check the answers with the key in the back of your book.