Quantifiers, possessives and demonstratives
Quantifiers
both, several, most, allb1
Quantifiers: both, several, most and all
Grammar contents
- All the people in the photo are sitting down.
- There are two women. Both women are wearing smart clothes.
- Most of the houses are painted white.
- Most children enjoy games.
- There's a group of children. Several of them are playing with a ball and all of them are smiling.
We use quantifiers, usually before nouns, to talk about the number of people or things.
We use both with a plural noun to talk about two people or things.
We can use both + noun …
- There are two women. Both women are sitting down.
… both + the + noun …
- Both the women are wearing smart clothes.
… or both + of the + noun.
- Both of the photos show forms of travel.
We use all with a plural noun to talk about all the people or things in a group.
We can use all + the + noun …
- All the people in the photo are sitting down.
… or all + of the + noun.
- All of the children are smiling.
We use most + of the + plural noun to talk about the majority of the people or things in a group.
- Most of the houses are painted white.
We use most/all + noun (without the or of the) to talk about people or things in a general way.
- Most children like ice cream.
- All children enjoy games.
We use several (+ of the) + plural noun to talk about some of the people or things in a group.
- There's a group of men. Several of the men are sitting down.
- There are lots of children. Several children are playing a game.
We can use both/several/most/all + of + pronoun to talk about people or things that we have already mentioned. We cannot omit of.
- There are two women. Both of them are wearing smart clothes.
- There's a group of people. Several of them are carrying children, and all of them are smiling.
- There's a group of people. Most of them are talking.
We can use both/several/most/all without a noun or pronoun when it is obvious what we are talking about.
- There are two women. Both are smiling.
- There are some shops. Several/most/all are open.
Grammar contentsView all
Present perfect and past perfect
Quantifiers, possessives and demonstratives