Expressions of Quantity (a lot of / little / few / etc.)
A2What are expressions of quantity?
Expressions of quantity (French: expressions de quantité) are words or short phrases that tell how much (amount) or how many (number) of something there is. In French they often come before a noun and frequently use the preposition de (or d') to connect the quantifier to the noun: e.g. "beaucoup de", "peu de", "trop de".
These expressions can: 1) quantify nouns (J'ai beaucoup d'amis) or 2) act as adverbs modifying verbs (Je travaille beaucoup). The form and placement change depending on which role they play.
Examples (noun use vs adverb use):
- Noun: "J'ai beaucoup d'amis." (I have many friends.)
- Adverb: "Je parle beaucoup." (I speak a lot.)
Use them when you want to say how much (amount) or how many (number) of a noun. They answer the questions "How much?" or "How many?" about a noun.
- Use "beaucoup de", "trop de", "peu de", "assez de", etc., when you quantify a noun directly:
- "Il y a beaucoup de monde." (There are a lot of people.)
- "Elle a peu d'expérience." (She has little experience.)
- Use the shorter form (no "de") when the same word is an adverb modifying a verb:
- "Il mange trop." (He eats too much.)
- "Elle parle peu." (She speaks little / not much.)
Most quantifiers: use "de" (or "d'") + noun
A large group of common quantifiers take de (or d' before a vowel) directly before the noun. After that "de" there is no article (no un/une/des, no le/la/les) unless you mean "of the" in a specific sense (see later).
Common examples:
- "beaucoup de" — a lot of / many
- "beaucoup de livres" (a lot of books)
- "beaucoup d'amis" (many friends)
- "trop de" — too much / too many
- "trop de sucre" (too much sugar)
- "trop de gens" (too many people)
- "peu de" — few / little
- "peu de temps" (little time)
- "peu d'élèves" (few students)
- "un peu de" — a little (some) (especially for mass nouns)
- "un peu de lait" (a little milk)
- "assez de" — enough
- "assez de chaises" (enough chairs)
- "autant de", "tant de", "tellement de" — as much/as many; so much/so many
- "autant de problèmes" (as many problems)
- "tant de bruit" (so much noise)
- "plus de" / "moins de" — more / fewer
- "plus de temps" (more time)
- "moins de voitures" (fewer cars)
Notes:
- Use d' before a vowel sound: "beaucoup d'arbres"; "peu d'eau".
- Adjectives can appear between "de" and the noun: "beaucoup de belles fleurs".
Some quantifiers are directly followed by a noun and do not use "de":
- "quelques" — a few
- "quelques amis" (a few friends)
- "plusieurs" — several
- "plusieurs options" (several options)
- Cardinal numbers (exact counts) also go directly before the noun: "trois livres", "dix étudiants".
Special note: "quelque" (singular) can mean "about" before a number: "quelque 200 personnes" = "around 200 people".
If you mean "many of the X" (a specific group), you can combine the quantifier with the definite article (du = de + le, de la stays, des = de + les):
- "Beaucoup des étudiants de ma promotion sont partis." (Many of the students in my class left.)
- "Il manque du sel dans la soupe." (There is some / part of the salt missing — more naturally you would say "il manque du sel", but in contexts meaning "of the [specific] salt" you can see du.)
But when you use a possessive or other determiner, keep "de" + that determiner, not "des":
- Correct: "Beaucoup de mes amis sont venus." (Many of my friends came.)
- Incorrect: "Beaucoup des mes amis..."
Short rule-of-thumb:
- "beaucoup de livres" = many books (in general)
- "beaucoup des livres" = many of the books (a specific set already identified)
Understand the difference between countable (count) nouns and uncountable (mass) nouns:
- Countable: can have a plural: un livre / des livres (books, apples, students)
- Uncountable (mass): usually no plural when speaking of substance: de l'eau, du pain, de la patience (water, bread, patience)
Which quantifiers go with which:
- "un peu de" is mainly used with uncountable nouns: "un peu d'eau", "un peu d'argent".
- "peu de" can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns: "peu d'amis", "peu de patience".
- For a small number of countables prefer "quelques" or "quelques-uns": "quelques amis", "quelques-unes".
Examples:
- Correct: "J'ai un peu d'argent." (mass)
- Better: "J'ai quelques pièces." (a few coins — count)
- Correct: "Il y a peu d'élèves dans la classe." (few students)
When you want to replace a noun phrase introduced by "de", French uses the pronoun en. En stands for "of it", "of them", or "some".
Rules and examples:
- En replaces "de + noun" (after quantifiers or partitive/indefinite articles).
- "Tu veux du pain?" — "Oui, j'en veux." (Do you want some bread? — Yes, I want some.)
- "J'ai acheté trois pommes." — "J'en ai acheté trois." (I bought three apples — I bought three of them.)
- "Il y a beaucoup de monde." — "Il y en a beaucoup." (There are a lot of people — There are a lot of them.)
- Placement: en goes before the verb or before the auxiliary in compound tenses:
- Present: "J'en ai." / "Je n'en ai pas." (I have some / I don't have any.)
- Passé composé: "J'en ai pris deux." (I took two of them.)
- When the quantifier itself turns into a pronoun, use the special pronouns:
- "J'ai quelques amis." -> "J'en ai quelques-uns." (masculine) or "quelques-unes" (feminine)
- "J'ai plusieurs idées." -> "J'en ai plusieurs." (several)
- Don't replace a noun introduced by a definite article with en; use direct-object pronouns (le, la, les) if the noun is definite:
- "J'ai acheté les pommes." -> "Je les ai achetées." (I bought the apples -> I bought them.)
- "J'ai acheté des pommes." -> "J'en ai acheté." (I bought apples -> I bought some.)
1. Forgetting "de" after a quantifier
- Wrong: "beaucoup livres"
- Right: "beaucoup de livres"
2. Mixing up "de" and "des" with possessives
- Wrong: "beaucoup des mes amis"
- Right: "beaucoup de mes amis" (Many of my friends)
3. Using "un peu de" with count nouns when "quelques" is better
- Poor: "un peu de personnes" (informal, awkward)
- Better: "quelques personnes" or "peu de personnes" depending on meaning
4. Confusing adverb and determiner forms
- "Il mange trop." (adverb: he eats too much) vs "Il mange trop de sucre." (determiner: too much sugar)
- "Elle travaille beaucoup." vs "Elle a beaucoup de travail."
5. Replacing "de" phrases with the wrong pronoun
- Wrong: "J'ai beaucoup de pommes. Je les ai beaucoup." (awkward)
- Right: "J'ai beaucoup de pommes. J'en ai beaucoup." (I have a lot of apples. I have a lot of them.)
6. Forgetting to contract "de" before a vowel
- Wrong: "beaucoup de amis"
- Right: "beaucoup d'amis"
- beaucoup de (a lot of / many)
- "Il y a beaucoup d'oiseaux dans le parc." (There are a lot of birds in the park.)
- "J'ai beaucoup de travail cette semaine." (I have a lot of work this week.)
- trop de (too much / too many)
- "Il y a trop de bruit ici." (There is too much noise here.)
- "Il y a trop de personnes dans la salle." (There are too many people in the room.)
- peu de (few / little)
- "Elle a peu d'amis en ville." (She has few friends in town.)
- "Il y a peu d'eau dans la bouteille." (There is little water in the bottle.)
- un peu de (a little [of])
- "Prends un peu de pain." (Take a little bread.)
- "J'ai un peu d'argent pour acheter un café." (I have a little money to buy a coffee.)
- assez de (enough)
- "Nous avons assez de chaises pour tout le monde." (We have enough chairs for everyone.)
- plusieurs / quelques (several / a few)
- "Plusieurs étudiants ont posé la question." (Several students asked the question.)
- "J'ai quelques livres à te prêter." (I have a few books to lend you.)
- autant de / plus de / moins de (as many / more / fewer)
- "Il a autant de stylos que moi." (He has as many pens as I do.)
- "Il y a plus de visiteurs aujourd'hui." (There are more visitors today.)
- "Il y a moins d'erreurs cette fois." (There are fewer mistakes this time.)
- tant de / tellement de (so much / so many)
- "Elle a tant de choses à raconter!" (She has so many things to tell!)
- la plupart de (most of)
- "La plupart des participants sont arrivés." (Most of the participants have arrived.)
- plein de (informal: lots of)
- "J'ai plein de travail." (I've got loads of work.)
- numbers and approximations
- Exact number: "Il y a dix chaises." (There are ten chairs.)
- Approximation with "une dizaine de": "Il y avait une dizaine de personnes." (There were about ten people.)
- Large round number: "Un million de spectateurs a regardé." (A million spectators watched.)
- If you can replace the phrase with "of it" or "of them," you'll often use en: "J'en ai besoin." (I need some of it/them.)
- For a small number of countable items prefer "quelques" or "plusieurs" rather than "un peu de."
- Use "de" after quantifiers (beaucoup, trop, peu, assez, autant, etc.) except with words that inherently take the plural noun directly (quelques, plusieurs) or with exact cardinal numbers.
- Use "du / de la / des" when you mean "of the" (a specific subset): "beaucoup des élèves (que j'ai vus)" = many of the students (I saw).
Quantifier — a word that expresses quantity (many, few, several).
Partitive article — du / de la / de l' (some, part of a substance). Example: "du pain" (some bread).
Definite article — le / la / les (the). When combined with de after some quantifiers you get du / des for "of the".
Indefinite article — un / une / des (a, an, some for plurals).
Countable noun — a noun that can be counted and has a plural (livre, pomme).
Uncountable (mass) noun — a noun that usually does not have a plural when referring to the substance (eau, pain, patience).
en (pronoun) — replaces "de + noun" and often translates as "of it / of them / some." Example: "J'en veux." (I want some.)
If you want, I can summarize the rules into a one-page cheat sheet or give targeted example sets (e.g., for shopping, talking about people, or food) to practice the most common quantifiers.