Determiners & Quantifiers

A determiner is the word that opens a noun phrase and fixes its quantity. Choose it by asking one question: is the noun countable or not?

1. Countable vs uncountable quantifiers. many, few, fewer, a number of, several go with countable plurals; much, little, less, a great deal of, an amount of go with uncountables. "Fewer candidates, less competition."
2. Some vs any. some in positive statements and in offers or requests ("Would you like some tea?"); any in negatives and open questions ("He does not have any objection").
3. Each, every, either, neither. All four take a singular verb. each and either/neither are used of two; every needs three or more. "Each of the two files is ready."
4. Both, all, whole. both = two, all = three or more; the whole goes with a singular noun ("the whole city"), all the with a plural ("all the cities").

The single most common mistake is the flip between `a few` and `few` (and a little / little). Without the article the word turns negative: "He has few friends" means he is almost friendless, while "He has a few friends" is a comfortable, positive statement. Marathi has no article to carry that switch, so the learner usually means the positive and writes the negative. How to spot it: if you meant "some, and that is fine", the article must be there.

many/few/fewer → countable · much/little/less → uncountable · each, every, either, neither → singular verb · each & either = two, every = three or more · a few = some (positive), few = almost none (negative)

Fill in the blank: "____ of the two candidates was found eligible." Options: Every / Each / All / Any. → Each. "Every" needs three or more items, "all" takes a plural verb, and "any" would not fit a completed statement; "each" is used of two and takes the singular "was". Sanity check: the verb in the sentence is already singular ("was"), which rules out "all" immediately and confirms the choice.