Quantifiers
A guided-discovery grammar lesson
Topic: food & healthy eating | CEFR B1–B2
Level: B1–B2
Time: approx. 60 minutes
Target language: some, any, much, many, a lot of / lots of, a few, a little / a bit of, enough, too
much / too many, How much / How many?
Approach: guided discovery — students work out the rules from examples, then practise.
Materials: the food blog and the four reader comments (from exercise 4), plus this worksheet.
Lesson aims
By the end of the lesson, students will be better able to:
• notice quantifiers in a text and work out the rules for using them;
• tell the difference between countable (plural) and uncountable nouns;
• choose the right quantifier for positive sentences, negatives and questions;
• talk about their own diet using quantifiers accurately.
Procedure (teacher's notes)
1 Lead-in (5 min)
Ask: “What did you eat and drink yesterday? Do you think you ate well?” Elicit a few food words and
write them on the board. Sort one or two into things we count (apples, eggs) and things we don't (water,
rice) to prime the countable / uncountable idea — but don't explain the grammar yet.
2 Noticing (5–10 min)
Students re-read the four comments on the food blog and underline every quantifier (this continues
exercise 4). Take feedback and confirm the list below.
Quantifiers in the comments
• Comment 1 (Anna): a lot of sweets, enough exercise
• Comment 2 (Jan): very little time, too many takeaways, several different vegetables
• Comment 3 (Sam): don't eat any meat, a lot of vegetables, some fish
• Comment 4 (Peter): several small meals, a few foods, I can only eat a little
3 Guided discovery (15 min)
In pairs, students complete Part B of the worksheet (sort the nouns, then work out the rules). Monitor,
but resist giving the rules — let learners induce them. Check answers as a class using the concept
questions below.
Concept-checking questions:
1. “I eat a lot of vegetables.” — Is vegetables countable or uncountable? Is the sentence positive or
negative? (countable plural; positive)
2. Can we say “much vegetables”? Why not? (No — much is for uncountable nouns; use many or a
lot of.)
3. “I don’t eat any meat.” — positive or negative? (negative — that’s why we use any, not some)
4. “too many takeaways” — is that a good amount or a problem? (a problem — more than we need)
4 Controlled practice (15 min)
Students do Task 1 (gap-fill) and Task 2 (correct the mistakes) individually, then compare in pairs
before whole-class feedback.
5 Freer practice (10 min)
Students complete Task 3 with true information about themselves, then ask and answer in pairs.
6 Round-up (5 min)
A few students report something true about their partner, e.g. “Sara doesn’t drink much coffee” / “Omar
eats a lot of fruit.” Note any common errors for correction.
Student worksheet
Quantifiers — food & healthy eating
Part A — Notice the language
Look back at the four comments on the food blog. Each quantifier below is followed by a noun. Write C
if the noun is countable (plural) or U if it is uncountable.
a lot of sweets ____ enough exercise ____
very little time ____ too many takeaways ____
any meat ____ a lot of vegetables ____
some fish ____ several small meals ____
a few foods ____
Part B — Work out the rules
B1 Which nouns go with which quantifiers?
Write each quantifier from the box in the correct column. Use the comments and the examples in the
grammar box to help you. Some go in more than one column.
some • any • a lot of / lots of • many • much • a few • a little / a bit of • enough
• too much • too many
With plural countable nouns With uncountable nouns
With both
(sweets, vegetables, meals) (exercise, time, meat)
B2 Positive, negative or question?
Complete the rules with a word from the box. Look at how the words are used in the blog and the
comments.
some • any • much • many • a lot of
1. We usually use ____________ in positive sentences. (I eat ____ vegetables.)
2. We usually use ____________ in negative sentences and questions. (I don’t eat ____ meat. Do
you eat ____ fruit?)
3. We use ____________ with uncountable nouns, mostly in negatives and questions. (I don’t drink
____ coffee.)
4. We use ____________ with plural countable nouns, mostly in negatives and questions. (I don’t
eat ____ sweets.)
5. We can use ____________ in positive sentences, negatives and questions.
B3 Meaning
1. too much / too many means: a) exactly enough b) more than we need c) not enough
2. We use How much with ______________ nouns and How many with ______________ nouns.
3. a few and a little mean a small amount. We use a few with ______________ nouns and a little
with ______________ nouns.
Task 1 — Fill in the gaps
Complete the sentences with a suitable quantifier. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
1. I try to eat ______________ fruit and vegetables every day.
2. He isn’t healthy because he doesn’t drink ______________ water.
3. I’m really busy, so I have ______________ time to cook in the week.
4. Be careful — you eat ______________ sweets! That’s bad for your teeth.
5. There aren’t ______________ vegetarian options on this menu.
6. We don’t have ______________ eggs left. Can you buy some?
7. How ______________ cups of coffee do you drink a day?
8. She only puts ______________ sugar in her tea — about half a spoon.
9. Do you eat ______________ fish? It’s really good for you.
10.I eat ______________ small meals during the day instead of three big ones.
Task 2 — Correct the mistakes
Each sentence has one mistake with a quantifier. Find it and write the correction on the line.
1. I don’t eat much vegetables.
Correction: ________________________________________________
2. How much sweets do you eat in a week?
Correction: ________________________________________________
3. There are a little cafés near my office.
Correction: ________________________________________________
4. I drink too many water every day.
Correction: ________________________________________________
5. We don’t have some bread for breakfast.
Correction: ________________________________________________
6. He eats a lot fruit.
Correction: ________________________________________________
7. I only have a few time to cook in the evening.
Correction: ________________________________________________
8. There isn’t many sugar in this recipe.
Correction: ________________________________________________
Task 3 — Complete the sentences
Complete the sentences so they are true for you. Use a quantifier in each one. Then ask and answer
with a partner.
1. Every week, I eat ___________________________________________ .
2. I don’t drink ___________________________________________ .
3. In my kitchen right now, there is / are ___________________________________ .
4. I think young people today eat ___________________________________ .
5. I’d like to eat ____________________ , but I don’t have ____________________ .
6. Write a question to ask your partner: How ____________________ ?
Answer key
Part A — countable (C) or uncountable (U)
a lot of sweets (C) • enough exercise (U) • very little time (U) • too many takeaways (C) • any meat
(U) • a lot of vegetables (C) • some fish (U) • several small meals (C) • a few foods (C)
Note: fish is usually uncountable when we talk about it as food.
Part B1 — sorting the quantifiers
• Plural countable nouns: many, a few, too many
• Uncountable nouns: much, a little / a bit of, too much
• Both: some, any, a lot of / lots of, enough
Part B2 — positive, negative or question
1. some
2. any
3. much
4. many
5. a lot of
Part B3 — meaning
1 b) more than we need. 2 How much + uncountable; How many + plural countable. 3 a few +
plural countable; a little + uncountable.
Task 1 — fill in the gaps (suggested answers)
1. a lot of / lots of / some / enough
2. much / enough
3. very little / little / not much
4. too many
5. many
6. any
7. many
8. a little / a bit of
9. much / enough
[Link] / a few
Task 2 — correct the mistakes
1. many vegetables (or: a lot of vegetables)
2. How many sweets
3. a few cafés
4. too much water
5. any bread
6. a lot of fruit
7. a little / very little time
8. much sugar
Task 3 — freer practice
Answers will vary. Check that each sentence uses a quantifier that matches its noun (countable plural
vs uncountable) and the sentence type (positive / negative / question). Example answers:
• Every week, I eat a lot of vegetables and a few eggs.
• I don’t drink much fizzy drink.
• In my kitchen right now, there are some apples and a little cheese.
• I think young people today eat too many takeaways.
• I’d like to eat more fish, but I don’t have much time to cook.
• How many cups of coffee do you drink a day?