20230904 數量詞 Quantifiers (88)

數量詞
Quantifiers
Quantifiers give information about the number of something. We use different quantifiers with different types of nouns. (1) Quantifiers that can only be used with countable nouns are majority of, (not) many, several, a number of, (a) few, both, either, neither, every, each, etc. Here, "both", "either" and "neither" can refer to two people or two things. For example, "Both the supermarkets were closed." If there are more than two supermarkets, we say "All the supermarkets were closed." Besides, note that either, neither, every, and each is used with singular verbs. For example, "Neither of my parents likes my boyfriend." (2) Quantifiers that can only be used with uncountable nouns are (not) much, a bit of, (a) little, a great deal of, a large amount of, etc. Here, "a great deal of" is usually used with an abstract noun, such as time, interest, trouble, or effort. (3) Quantifiers that can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns are no, none, not any, some, any, enough, a lot of, lots of, plenty of, all, most, etc. For example, "lots of" can be used with a countable plural noun "friends" and an uncountable noun "time", as in "He has lots of friends." and "He has lots of time."

數量詞是用於表達某個東西的多寡，不同類型的名詞搭配的數量詞也會不同。

（1）只能搭配「可數名詞」的數量詞有：majority of、(not) many、several、a number of、(a) few、fewer、both、either、neither、every、each 等。

其中 both、either 和 neither 只能用來修飾兩個人或事。例如，如果要說兩間超市關門了，可以說： Both the supermarkets were closed. 但如果說的是兩間或以上的超市，就要說： All the supermarkets were closed.

另外也要注意，either、neither、every 和 each 這類數量詞後面只能跟著單數動詞。例如：Neither of my parents likes my boyfriend.

（2）只能搭配「不可數名詞」的數量詞有：(not) much、a bit of、(a) little、a great deal of、a large amount of 等。其中 a great deal of 通常用於修飾抽象名詞，例如 time（時間）、interest （興趣）、trouble（問題）、effort（努力）等。

（3）可以搭配「可數或不可數名詞」的數量詞有：no、none、not any、some、any、enough、a lot of、lots of、plenty of、all、most 等。

例如 lots of 可以用來修飾可數名詞 friends，也可用來修飾不可數名詞 time： He has lots of friends./He has lots of time.

例句
The vegetable soup needs a little bit of salt.

蔬菜湯需要加一點鹽。

Few people know about this information.

很少有人知道這個資訊。

The room has plenty of light.

這個房間光線充足。