Grammar Reference

 

3.1 ■ Determiners

These determiners are used to talk about quantity: some, any, a little, a few, much, many, a lot of.
We use some and any before uncountable nouns or plural countable nouns to mean 'a number of' or 'an amount of'.

• Some is used in affirmative sentences.
  I've got some apples. There's some tea on the table.
• Any is used in negative sentences and in questions.
  Did the supermarket have any chicken?
  We haven't got any carrots.
  Have you got any bananas?
  There isn't any meat in the fridge.
  
• Some can also be used in questions, but only if they are offers or requests.
  Would you like some cake?
  Can I have some cake?
  

We use a little and a few to refer to small amounts.

• We use a little with uncountable nouns.
  We only need a little milk for the cake.
  
• We use a few with plural countable nouns.
  Meals are healthier if you add a few vegetables.
  

Much and many are used in negative sentences and questions to talk about larger quantities.

• We use much with uncountable nouns.
  Have you got much rice?
  There isn't much coffee.
  
• We use many with plural countable nouns.
  Are there many glasses in the cupboard? ~ Yes, but there aren't many plates.

We generally use a lot of to talk about larger quantities in affirmative sentences, for both uncountable and plural countable nouns. It is also possible to use a lot of in negatives and in questions.

Ellie eats a lot of fruit and vegetables.

A lot of people like Italian food.

3.2 ■ Indefinite pronouns and adverbs: some-, any-, no-, every-

We use indefinite pronouns that combine some-, any-, no- and every- with -body, -one or -thing to refer to people and things without saying exactly who or what they are.

The pronouns somebody and someone mean the same; so do anybody and anyone, everybody and everyone, etc. Note that the indefinite pronoun no one is two separate words.

Somebody is upstairs.

There isn't anything in the fridge.

I opened the door, but no one was there.

In English, a sentence can only contain one negative form, so an affirmative verb must be used with pronouns or adverbs formed with no-.

No one came to the party. I didn't see anyone.

NOT No one didn't come. I didn't see no one.

We can use the same combination of some-, any-, no- and every- with -where to form the adverbs somewhere, anywhere, nowhere and everywhere. These words refer to places.

I looked everywhere but I couldn't find my shoes.

The station is somewhere near here.

This animal is found in Australia and nowhere else.

Note that after indefinite pronouns and adverbs we always use a singular verb.

Everyone knows about it.

NOT Everyone know about it.

3.3 ■ Relative pronouns and adverbs: who, whose, which, that, when, where

Relative pronouns and adverbs link two ideas.

There is a vending machine. It sells frozen food.

There is a vending machine that sells frozen food.

NOT There is a vending machine that it sells … .

The relative pronoun who refers to a person, and which refers to a thing. The pronoun that can refer back to both people and things.

There is a vending machine which / that sells frozen food.

I know someone who / that lives near you.

We can leave out who, which or that if they are followed by another pronoun or a noun. We can't leave out who, which or that if they are followed by a verb.

An additive is a thing (which / that) we put in food.

BUT

An additive is a thing which / that is put into food.

We use the relative pronoun whose to refer back to a person who owns something.

There's my neighbour. We found his dog.

There's my neighbour whose dog we found.

The relative adverb when refers to a time at which something happened.

I was happy when I was a child.

Sunday is the only day when I can relax.

The relative adverb where refers to a place in which something happened.

I want to show you the house where I was born.

Britain is one of the few countries where people drive on the left.