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Wikipage of Group 5 - Quantifiers
Overview
Members
Short description of the topic
Quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns; they indicate quantity.
There are different types of quantifiers which can be divided in quantifiers for count nouns and non-count nouns.
Comment
Count-nouns are regarded as individual, countable items: e.g. tree
Non-count nouns are not countable, things that we regard as 'undifferentiated mass':
e.g. dancing, the water we spilled on the floor, one big mess
Nouns that can be either count or non-count nouns:
e.g. paper, stone, and cake
For instance, I can enter a bakery and say 'I want a cake' (an individual bakery product), or, before we enter, I can tell a friend that 'I want cake' and not refer to a specific cake but simply mean that the idea of eating cake appeals to me — any cake or piece of cake with chocolate frosting...
Examples
Quantifier expressions
- some
- both
- all
- everything
- nothing
- at least five
- most
- all but one
- less than half of the
- three books
- more...than
- John and Mary
- only John
Quantifiers that work with count nouns:
many / a few / several / a couple of / none of the trees
Quantifiers that work with non-count nouns:
not much / a little / a bit of / no dancing
Quantifiers that work with both count and non-count nouns:
all of the / some/ most of the / enough / a lot of trees / lots of / plenty of / a lack of trees/dancing
Excercises
Restricted Quantifiers
Find the right formula for the sentence below.
Some students who heard both concerts were interviewed by Holmes.
Different types of Quantifiers
- Which type of Quantifiers has the sentence below?
- Write down the corresponding logical formula.
Ramon signs every sculpture he makes.
- (a) existential
- (b) universal
- (c) restricted
Scopal Ambiguity
- How has the following sentence scopal ambiguity?
- Write down its two possible logical forms.
Everyone loves someone.
- Reading: File:Everyone loves someone 1
- Reading: File:Everyone loves someone 1
References and links
References
- Kearns, Kate (2000): Semantics. New York: St Martin's Press.
- Definition of quantifier from the Oxford Online Dictionary
- Definition of quantifier from the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy
- http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/noun_exercise.htm
- http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/determiners/determiners.htm
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