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INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

MUCH, MANY, FEW, A FEW, LITTLE, A LITTLE

1. The indefinite pronouns many, few, a few are used with plural countable nouns only.

The indefinite pronouns much, little, a little are used with singular

uncountable nouns only.

2. Normally much and many occur in negative and interrogative sentences.

e.g. Is there much time left?

I don't know many of your friends.

In affirmative sentences, these pronouns are used after as, so, too.

e.g. You make too many mistakes.

There's so much work to do.

Note that very much is commonly used as an adverb.

e.g. I like skiing very much.

Little and few are rather formal; in an informal style not much and not many or only a little and only a few are preferred .

e.g. Few politicians are really honest.

We haven't got much time.

Only a few people speak a foreign language perfectly.

3.There is a difference between little/ few and a little/ a few. Little/ few have rather negative meanings "not as much/ many as one would like"; a little/ a few are more positive, close in meaning to "some".

e.g. The average MP has little real power.

We 've got a few potatoes and some steak for lunch.

EXERCISES

Exercise 1

Supply much, many, a lot of. In some sentences, so, as, too, very should be used.

a. Thank you ____ for your help.

b. __ depends on the outcome of the inquiry.

с. Don't be discouraged! _______ have failed to run the marathon.

d. I know old Mr. Higgins has _____ money.

e. Are there __ chairs as people?

f. Is there____ demand for silk stockings?

g. You can have_____ of this material as you like.

h. There isn't ___ space in this flat.

i. You can never have _____ love.

j. There aren't_______ portraits of Shakespeare.

k. Take______ of these tiles as you want.

l. He has lived here for _____ of his life.

m. I must say, you have _____ books.

n. Will there be _______ guests at your party?

o. We have occupied the same house for ______ years.

p. Not _______ happens around here when the tourists leave.

q. Not _______ doctors are prepared to visit patients in their own homes.

r. Do you have _____ trouble with English? -I don't have _____trouble speaking, but I

have ______difficulty writing.

s. Are there ______opera houses in London? - Not ______ , but ______theatres

and ______cinemas.

t. I haven't got ______ ambition but I have ______ patience.

u. __ money is spent on defence .

v. I don't know_____ people like him.

w. They worked for _____ hours without a break.

x. Bob feels __ better today.

y. I like your hair ______.

z . She's got_____relatives!

Exercise 2

Supply few, a few, little, a little.

a. There is ______ friendship in the world, and least of all between equals. (Francis

Bacon)

b. It is use trying to change her mind.

с. There are very _____scholarships for students in this university.

d . learning is a dangerous thing. (Alexander Pope)

e. Cactuses need _____water.

f. Give the roses _____ water every day.

g. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you for ______more time to pay this bill.

h. Men of words are the best men.

i. His ideas are very difficult, and very _____ people understand them.

j. His ideas are very difficult, but ______people understand them.

k. Death is one of the _____things that can be done as easily lying down. (Woody

Allen)

1. Could you possibly give me _____ help?

m. It's a difficult text. You'll have to look up quite ______words in the dictionary.

n. Slowly, ______children began going to school.

o. She only wanted ____love, ____kindness.

p. I can't let you use much of this perfume. There's only ____left.

q. There are_____who know about this, so keep it to yourself.

r. If what you say is true, there is _______we can do.

s. Unfortunately, he had _____ friends.

t. Never before have we had so ________time in which to do so much. (Franklin Roosevelt)

Exercise 3

Choose the right word in brackets.

1. We have imported fewer/ less videos this year than last year.

  1. There has been fewer/less demand for videos this year than last year.

  2. A lot of/ much vehicles have just been recalled because of a design fault.

  3. A lot of/ many effort has been put into this project.

5. Of all British cars, this one uses less/ the least petrol. It also needs fewer/ the

fewest repairs.

6. Less/ fewer girls do mathematics at university compared with boys. This may be

because girls get less/ fewer encouragement to study maths at school.

  1. There isn't much/ many hope of finding the wreck.

  2. There aren't much/ many dictionaries that can compare with this one.

  3. There have been a lot/ a lot of changes to our plan.

  4. *В методичке п. 10 пропущен >< *

1 l. You only need to use a small amount/ quantity of salt in a dish like this.

12. Do you want less/ the least money and more time, or less/ the least time and

more money?

13. As the years went by, they had few/ fewer things to say, and little/ less interest

in talking to each other.

14.Many/ much trouble was caused by a faulty switch.

15.Have some/ some of tea.

16.Most of the/ most book was written by someone else.

17,Most/most of magazines carry advertisements.

18.Most/most of metal is liable to rust.

19.I'd like a few/ a little milk.

20.This room needs a little/ a few pictures to brighten it up.

21. Liz is very clever, but she has got less/ the least self-confidence of anyone I

know. 21.I've.had the least/ the fewest days off work of anybody in the office.

  1. We need a couple/ a couple of people to work in our new warehouse.

  2. A good deal of/ several businesses have gone bankrupt this year.

  3. There aren't any/ some chocolates left.

  4. There isn't any/ some time to waste,

  5. We've had enough/ hardly any trouble with this machine already.

  6. There have been a good deal of/ hardly any accidents on this road this year.

  7. There were plenty/ plenty of complaints about the service in this hotel.

  8. There has been no/ any change in the new edition.

  9. There's hardly some/ any food for everyone.

  10. There's most/more of this stew left.

  11. Would you like a bit of/ a bit butter on this toast?

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