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Non-count and count quantifiers

August 17, 2026

What are quantifiers?

Quantifiers are words placed before nouns to show quantity. With non-count nouns (e.g., water, advice), we use quantifiers like much, little, and a little. With count nouns (e.g., books, people), we use many, few, and a few. Some quantifiers, like some and a lot of, work with both.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Quantifiers with non-count nouns

There are some quantifiers which are used only with non-count nouns. Here are a few examples:

a little
not much
little
too much

“The students have a tremendous amount of work to complete before the end of the year.”
“His fuel gauge was not working, so he didn’t know how much gas was left.”

Quantifiers with count nouns

There are some quantifiers which are used only with count nouns. Here are a few examples:

few
many
several
a couple of

“The number of people in the club exceeded the maximum occupancy.”
“I don’t remember how many times I have been to New York.”

Quantifiers used with both

There are some quantifiers which are used with both non-count and count nouns.

some
a lot of
plenty of
enough

Use this table to check which quantifiers go with count nouns, which go with non-count nouns, and which can be used with both. Each row includes a clear example to help you remember the correct usage.

Quantifier	Used with	Example
much	non-count	There isn’t much time left.
many	count	How many books did you read?
few	count	She has few friends here.
little	non-count	There’s little water in the bottle.
a lot of	both	We have a lot of work / a lot of students.

Non-count and count quantifiers quiz

Choose the missing words to form the correct sentences:

1) There wasn’t _ traffic this morning.
many
much
a few

2) There was _ information given during the class.
much
many
none

3) The _ of advice he received was well worth the cost.
amount
number
much

4) How _ people will be coming to the party tonight?
many
much
lots

5) Unfortunately, she doesn’t have very _ friends
many
much
none

6) I bought some milk, some apples, and a _ bananas.
lots of
many
few

7) There are a lot of movies I like, but _ that I would see twice.
few
little
a plenty

8) We just bought a new house with _ furniture included.
several
plenty of
a few

9) The _ of students at the school has increased.
some
number
few

10) There is _ water on the floor because of the storm last night
lots
few
a little

Show Answers

1. There wasn’t much traffic this morning.
2. There was much information given during the class.
3. The amount of advice he received was well worth the cost.
4. How many people will be coming to the party tonight?
5. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have very many friends.
6. I bought some milk, some apples, and a few bananas.
7. There are a lot of movies I like, but few that I would see twice.
8. We just bought a new house with plenty of furniture included.
9. The number of students at the school has increased.
10. There is a little water on the floor because of the storm last night.