Chapter 5 — Countables, articles and quantifiers

The essentials in four points:

• Many, few, a number of + plural countables; much, little, an amount of + uncountables.
• Always singular, never with -s: information, advice, research, equipment, furniture, homework, news.
• The for a unique or already identified referent; zero article for generalities in the plural or with uncountables.

Academic English is full of uncountable nouns that many languages treat as countable: information, research, equipment, advice, homework, furniture, knowledge, progress, evidence. No plural, no a/an, and their own quantifiers.

1. Two families of quantifiers. Plural countables: many, few, a few, several, a number of. Uncountables: much, little, a little, a great deal of, an amount of. Some, any, a lot of, plenty of go with both.
✔ much research · ✔ few of the students · ✘ many noise → much noise

2. Amount vs number. The amount of + uncountable (the amount of rainfall); the number of + plural (the number of students). The ITP likes to cross-wire them.

3. Counting the uncountable. To enumerate an uncountable, English uses a classifier: a piece of advice, three pieces of equipment, an item of furniture, a body of evidence.