How to Talk about Quantities in English Too much Too many Few Little

rolling hi everybody and welcome back to

our weekly live stream my name is alicia

and in this week’s lesson we are going

to talk about

how to talk about quantities

we are going to cover countable and

uncountable nouns

and how we can count them and we’re also

going to talk about

these expressions like too much or too

many

or a few and few and what’s the

difference between them

we’re also going to talk about little

and a little

finally we are going to talk about using

enough

and any as well so this lesson will

include some

kind of beginner level grammar that’s

okay for beginners

but i also hope intermediate learners

and maybe advanced learners

can find a few points especially about

the differences between these two things

here so

there’s a lot to cover today so i want

to get started as soon

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so today’s lesson is about quantities as

i said

we’re going to cover countable and

uncountable nouns

a lot in this lesson so

uh let’s get started uh with the first

part

um i’ll show you today’s lesson boards

now so you can take a picture

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hello alicia gonzalez hi

we have similar names steve hello what’s

the difference between past perfect and

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check our youtube and facebook videos

the english class 101 videos that is a

different topic from today’s lesson

but i have made many videos about those

topics

okay i’ll show you today’s lesson boards

then here

is our uh flow for today first

we’re going to talk about countable and

uncountable nouns the basics super super

basics i’m not going to talk about

details today i have a couple videos

about this

then we’re going to talk about a few and

few

a little little what the difference is

key differences here

and then finally we’re going to talk

about enough

and any okay so for today’s lesson

i chose um i wanted to focus on topics

that i notice many

learners have questions about or that i

read

lots of mistakes so uh so sometimes i

read your comments

all the time all the time and i notice

many

mistakes about this topic uh

so i chose those points for today

uh i’m going to share the lesson

okay and get started okay so let’s begin

first countable nouns and uncountable

nouns

what is this okay so countable nouns and

uncountable nouns may be

a beginner grammar point for some of you

maybe it’s a new grammar point for some

of you

basically countable nouns

are nouns we can count with numbers that

means

we we make a countable noun the plural

form

with an s sound an s sound so for

example

a marker is a countable noun

i can count it with numbers i can say

one marker two markers three markers and

so on

to make the countable or i’m sorry to

make the plural form

we simply add an s sound so here are

some more examples of countable

nouns dog student cookie

car so we add s to make the plural form

so more than one yeah so dogs

students cookies cars okay

so this is a countable noun

an uncountable noun on the other hand

is a noun we cannot count with numbers

we cannot say

one this or two that for an uncountable

noun

we use counter words to do this so

here are some examples of uncountable

nouns we have air

water time money

so we can’t say one money or

one time we don’t use one two three

before these nouns we use counters

so for example with water a bottle

of water or a glass of water

we use those counters to express

the amounts or the quantities with

uncountable

nouns right okay so this is the basic

then we need to think about countable

and uncountable nouns the difference is

when we want to talk about how much

or how many of something we have

so let’s begin with countable nouns just

a few examples here

when you want to express a large number

of something a countable noun you can

use

for example these expressions lots of

something many something tons of

or a lot of there are many

different expressions we can use to talk

about

large numbers but these are very very

common

so we use lots of plus the plural form

like lots of markers or many students

or tons of dogs or a lot of cookies

yeah so we use the plural form

noun plus s after this to express

a large number okay

then on the other hand oh uh samir abu

writes bottles of waters uh no we would

say

bottles of water we don’t put an s

at the end of this here bottles of water

your counter word is plural here

okay then on the other hand

when you want to talk about large

amounts

of uncountable nouns you can use

expressions like these so lots of is

okay to use for both

yeah lots of is good for both we can use

tons of also a lot of

and then i have here much this is a key

point i see

with learners lots of learners think oh

i use many

in this expression with countable nouns

much

here but we cannot use much

in a positive sentence when we’re

talking about

quantity so for example it’s incorrect

to say i have much time

that’s incorrect we only use

much with negative sentences

so for example i don’t have much time

okay so this is one kind of strange

point

to think about okay yes

uh mode usery huge yeah

huge is an adjective right so you can

say

a huge amount of something yes

so there are many different expressions

we can use to talk about

large numbers or large amounts i chose

in for today’s lesson i chose very very

common

expressions we use okay

all right okay i don’t see other

questions

some interesting examples are coming in

gentinee says lots of dogs eat pizza is

that true

okay all right good uh someone on

facebook sorry i can’t read your name

says i don’t have much time

good good good okay let’s continue so

we talked about large numbers and large

amounts now let’s talk about

small numbers and small amounts this

leads us to part two

for today’s lesson so to talk about

a small number you can use some

or a few or few what’s the difference

here we’re going to talk about this in

part two

of today’s lesson the difference between

a few and few what is the deal

on the other hand for uncountable nouns

we can use some also so some is okay

here

with both we can use a little

and little and again you might think

what is the difference

between those part two i’m going to

focus on these points

in part two okay then

this is another thing i’ve noticed some

learners make mistakes with when you

want to express

that you have more of something

than you need if your noun is countable

you can say too many too many

for example i have too many books i have

too many books like i have no space i

have too many books

if your noun is uncountable you use

i have too much free time

so in this expression we can it’s okay

to say

too much this is fine but we cannot use

much

i have much free time is incorrect okay

so please note we cannot use so in this

expression

uh sometimes i see learners using so and

two in the same way it’s incorrect i’m

going to talk about that in next week’s

live lesson actually okay so

this is the basis for today’s lesson

countable and

uncountable nouns we need to know this

to understand

the rest of today’s lesson the other

points

okay so if you have questions

uh please send them in the chat i will

try to

check your questions live okay looks

good so

let’s go to a very short break and then

we’re going to talk about

few and little and a few and a little

okay

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here’s a pdf about free time activities

leisure time activities means free time

the stuff you do in your free time

so you can find weekend plan expressions

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going to

something something something yeah i

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sometimes the business english one two

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are phrases you can use for a business

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some questions are coming

um dennis on facebook youtube says can i

say

i did so many mistakes close say i made

so many mistakes we say to make a

mistake to make a mistake that’s a set

phrase i made

so many mistakes okay uh

says i don’t need more snacks i already

have too many snacks oh really

i can never have too many snacks i love

snacks

so okay uh good let’s go to

uh part two part two so uh let’s talk

about few

and a few and uh little and a little

this is a small difference i know

but it changes the feeling of your

sentence

a lot this decision so this is a key

point

for intermediate learners i think and

advanced learners

please please please remember this okay

so

let’s look a few phew what’s the deal

here

so this part is about

countable nouns that’s the first point

we use a few and few

with countable nouns so in this sentence

i’m going to in these two sentences i’m

going to compare

the differences so let’s read first

what’s the difference

my company bought a few computers my

company bought a few computers okay

and my company bought few computers

my company bought few computers both

sentences

are 100 correct no problem they’re great

great sentences perfect so what’s the

difference

the difference is right here this up so

my company bought a few computers or my

company bought

few computers what’s the difference this

sentence here

with a few sounds like a simple

neutral fact i’m giving you information

oh my company bought a few computers

last week

it’s just basic information like a

report yeah

this sentence my company bought few

computers sounds like a negative

situation or a negative

condition so my company bought few

computers

we need a lot though our team is growing

so this small change

shows us that the situation is negative

or maybe there was a negative

effect we’ll see the same thing with

little

in just a minute so this uh

shows us simple report simple fact

no up here shows it’s a negative

situation or condition

however there is one one case or one

uh one situation

where it does not mean it’s negative in

this example sentence

my company has few problems

so here i have few no uh my company has

few problems

if the noun after few problems

is a negative noun the feeling of the

sentence

is positive so one important point when

i say

negative noun here i mean this noun

means something bad something that’s a

problem something bad in society

in this case a problem is not a good

thing right

so my company has few problems

in this case when the noun is a bad

thing

and you use few the sentence sounds

positive the feeling is positive like

my company has few problems my company

has very few

problems it’s great this sentence sounds

happy it sounds good

okay so this is the difference with few

and a few okay good some of your

examples are coming in

good uh let’s see

there is uh oh salma there is a few

apple in the fridge very close

plural there are a few apples

in the fridge don’t forget your s at the

end of your countable noun

okay eduardo says why do you put apples

in the fridge

okay uh alright other examples

there are a few books for reading here

nice one

uh rakesh okay uh magdalena says i

bought

few computers okay yeah so that’s good

if you want to express

a negative situation or a negative

condition i bought few computers

okay danielle says there are few rich

people in the world

really really oh i don’t i don’t know

how many are there

okay all right let’s go then let’s go to

the next part someone uh

let’s see some of you are writing some

examples of this

let’s now let’s compare this to a little

and little so same thing right

uh little and little same idea as

a few and few the difference

we use little and a little with

uncountable nouns

uncountable nouns right so before we

talked about air

water time money we need counter words

for this

yeah okay so

let’s compare these two sentences

first we have a little time to finish

the project

we have a little time to finish the

project and

we have little time to finish the

project we have little time to finish

the project

so again these two the only difference

is this

uh yeah we have a little time and

we have little time again

this sentence with uh sounds like a

simple neutral fact we have a little

time to finish the project it’s okay

don’t worry we have a little time

sounds okay just fact this sentence

sounds

negative we have little time to finish

the project

we have little time sounds like oh we

need to rush or we need to hurry

there’s a lot to do we have little time

to finish

the project okay all right

i’m looking for your other questions no

okay so

same idea as with few but again we have

to use this with

uncountable nouns here my noun is time

this is an uncountable noun

we have a little time to finish the

project

so i cannot use a few we have a few time

no if you change this noun we have a few

hours hours is okay hours

is a countable noun a few

so make sure you check your noun is it

countable

or uncountable here

finally the same thing we saw in our

last example sentence here

with few is also true here

this example sentence my city has little

pollution my city has little pollution

what’s pollution pollution is like is

bad air

or bad water dirty air or dirty water so

the city is not

clean yeah so pollution

means all that bad or dirty stuff yeah

so my city has little pollution again

if the noun after little in this case

is a negative noun something bad

the feeling of the sentence is positive

so

my city has little pollution this is a

good thing

so pollution not good but i want to

express

there’s not very much of it my city has

little pollution

this sentence sounds positive okay

all right good looks good okay i’m

looking for your

questions

we still have a little time for a cup of

coffee says jorge perfect that’s a great

example you could use that at the end of

like a business meeting you could use

that

maybe after you have lunch with a friend

you can say oh we still have a little

time

for a cup of coffee not we still have

little time

but that little uh the small uh there it

makes a big difference

in feeling yeah okay um

ooh zachary i hope i said that right on

facebook says

there is little clean air in big cities

very nice

very nice okay good examples

javier what’s the difference between

little and small ah good point

in this yeah in this when we’re talking

about

how much of something when we’re talking

about a quantity

like this um we can use a small amount

of time i suppose

like in this sentence we have a small

amount

of time but we can’t replace it directly

we have

a small time to finish the project is

not doesn’t work

so we can’t switch uh little and small

in these example sentences if however

you are talking about size like

uh like a small car then it’s fine

there you can use both of them the same

okay

all right good time’s going quick so

let’s

go to the last point for today the final

point for today

is about enough and any how do we use

enough and how do we use any okay

let’s take a look again let’s compare a

few points so

uh enough this is one i see yeah

okay i see some mistakes with this so

let’s talk about it

uh all right oh some questions are

coming uh naeli

can these words be used formally and i’m

not sure what you mean by unnaturally

but formally yes you can use

uh these words in formal situations

uh you might hear some longer

expressions used

but yes you can okay um

other points cindy sms one of our

members hi says can i say a little bit

yes you can say a little bit that sounds

a little

casual actually okay um

okay let’s go to the last point enough

let’s talk about

enough what is the deal so again let’s

compare

enough two sentences first we have

enough time we have enough time

and we don’t have enough time

we don’t have enough time so what does

enough express what what does it steal

so when we use enough in a positive

sentence like this

in this case i have it with time an

uncountable noun

this means it matches the need in the

situation

we have enough time so enough time means

the time i have matches my

requirement matches my need so for

example

it takes me one hour to finish this task

i have one hour to finish the task i can

say

i have enough time it matches my need

on the other hand however we don’t have

enough time negative don’t have enough

time

means this does not match my need so

my task takes one hour i have 30 minutes

i don’t have enough time the time does

not

match my need

okay so sometimes i see

maybe like enough used in

sort of interesting ways so please be

careful of how you use

enough enough is used to talk about

matching

a requirement it’s also common to see

enough in requests and questions too

so here’s a request in this case i used

it with

a countable noun you can do this you can

use it with countable nouns uncountable

nouns

so for example please buy enough snacks

for everyone

at the party please buy enough snacks

for everyone at the party what does this

mean

make sure to meet the requirement or the

need

so i say to someone else please buy

enough snacks

for everyone at the party that means

please make sure

you buy snacks you buy so many snacks

that everyone can eat you are matching

the needs of our situation okay

all right good some examples are coming

in uh

that is enough water says bright moon

good i have enough clothes to wear good

okay miguel we don’t have enough money

good uh janteny

i don’t have enough meal maybe i don’t

have enough food in my fridge we would

say usually

uh i don’t have enough time good nice

examples everyone

okay look looks good looks really really

good okay

oh john carlos says can we use

sufficient

yes uh sufficient is

not used as much in everyday

conversation

uh sufficient is used in more

like business polite or um

like formal documents for example like

we did not have sufficient time to

prepare the report that sounds much more

formal

we don’t use it so much in everyday

conversation though yes

okay good uh okay i don’t see other

questions

let’s go to the last point for today

very quickly i want to review

any i didn’t talk about any at the

beginning of today’s lesson

so let’s cover it here any what

uh any we use any in questions

and we use any in negative

sentences for example do we have any

milk do we have any milk

sometimes i see learners go do we have

some milk

make sure to use any when you’re asking

questions like this do we have

any uh some not some and

when you want to talk about having zero

of something we don’t have any

snacks this sentence is okay too we

don’t have snacks

this one sounds more like oh we have

zero snacks

oh no we don’t have any snacks

okay so make sure you use them in these

two situations using questions using

negative sentences

i’m not going to talk about this point a

lot today because

there i have a video on the english

class 101

youtube and maybe on facebook and our

website

i talked about any and some and

quantifiers

so many points maybe i’ll put i’ll put

some links

uh in the youtube description after this

lesson so if you want to review

uh some of today’s points you can check

those links uh so please have a look at

the youtube description

when this lesson ends okay good some of

you are sending questions with any

uh some people say do you have any

questions for me do you have any idea

what time you’ll be there very nice

example

is there any food it says zupa very nice

uh yoshida uh says i don’t have any

money good

uh abby says do we have any money great

your any questions are really good

really good

um eduardo good question can we change

any for no uh so for example

like in this sentence uh we don’t have

any snacks

we cannot go do it directly

you can’t say we don’t have no snacks

some ways of speaking english use that

yes

uh but you might hear more commonly

we have no snacks we have no snacks

so no double negative there more common

is we have

no snacks yeah okay okay uh

wow some good examples are coming in all

right

everybody is really good with any that’s

awesome

that’s awesome okay but i have to finish

i don’t have

any more time left so i have to say

goodbye to you

if you would like to take a picture of

today’s lesson boards here you go

that is what we talked about today

countable and uncountable nouns

a few few a little little enough

and any and yeah after this lesson

i will add some links to the youtube

description so you can check

and review okay yeah if you missed any

of this

check the lesson recording it was super

fun okay i’ll be back

next week of course next week’s lesson

here’s the information

next week uh april 21st 10 p.m

eastern standard time this is new york

city time

if you don’t know your local time please

google it or

you can set a notification on facebook

or on youtube or if you follow me on

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i always post a link in my stories with

a reminder for the topic so you can

follow me there next week i’m going to

talk about

how to use emphasis words so i hinted at

it today

uh like so too very extremely

way and many more so i want to cover

of course how we use these words like

formality

uh is it formal or casual and some

common mistakes

like i see a lot of mistakes with two

for example

so please join me again next week to

talk about how to use

emphasis words we’ll have a good time

and of course don’t forget

to check out the link below the video on

youtube or above the video on facebook

to get

your free pdfs to study vocabulary

all alright i’ll say goodbye for now so

have a good week enjoy the rest of your