WORD CLASS: QUANTIFIERS

1. Quantifiers are words related to amounts or quantities, but not usually in a specific way. They are a category quite similar to determiners. Most of them accept both a predicative and an attributive use, but not all of them.

Some of them show gender and number variations, others do not.

2. The following list will provide a list of them together with their attributive and predicative uses, as well as its meaning and an example.

Form	Att.	Pred.	Equivalence
algun, alguna, alguns, algunes	+	+	some
ningú	–	+	no one, anyone; (with negative verb), nobody
alguna cosa or quelcom	–	+	something
res	–	+	nothing
gens	–	+	at all
tot, tota, tots, totes	+	+	all, every
tothom	–	+	everybody
cada	+	–	each, every
cadascú, cadascuna	–	+	each one, every one
molt, molta, molts, moltes	+	+	much / many
gaire, gaires	+	+	much / many
cap	+	+	no, any (with negative verb)
varis, vàries	+	+	some, several
algú	–	+	somebody
ningú	–	+	nobody
qualsevol, qualssevol (pl.)	+	+	anyone, whatever, whoever
altre, altra, altres, altres	+	+	(an)other
d’altres	–	+	others
un, una, uns, unes	–	+	one
poc, poca, pocs, poques	+	+	little / few
prou	+	+	enough
massa	+	+	too many / too much
bastant, bastants	+	+	rather

3. Some of the previous items require some explanations:

·        algú is used predicatively, while algun is used attributively.

·        quelcom is too formal. In colloquial Catalan it is substituted by alguna cosa.

·        the difference between res and gens lies on their morphological category. The word gens is actually an adverb, which means it cannot be used as a direct object. Anyway, both words are to be used in negative sentences.

·        the difference between molt and gaire lies on the kind of sentence in which they are used. The second one is only used in negative sentences.

·        cap is invariable.

·        varis, vàries is used only in plural and always after the noun.

·        altre works like English another and the other when used attributively.

·        d’altres is used only in plural and predicatively.

·        res, ningú and cap are also used with interrogative sentences, but having an affirmative value.

4. Examples of the previous quantifiers. Observe how molt is used invariably when followed by uncountable nouns, preceded by preposition de:

tens cap conegut a Roma?	do you have any acquaintance in Rome?
no em deixes cap opció	you leave me no option
necessites res?	do you need anything?
no, gràcies, no em cal res	no, thank you, I need nothing
aquest llibre no m’ha agradat gens	I didn’t like this book at all
ens han robat totes les caixes	we’ve been stolen all the boxes
sempre ho vols tot	you always want everything
coneixes tothom ací, eh?	you know everybody here, don’t you?
cada any la cosa és més fluixa	things are getting worse every year
que cadascú agafi la seva cadira	let everyone take their own chair
m’han mostrat revistes vàries	I’ve been shown different magazines
he perdut el bolígraf. No en tens d’altre?	I’ve lost my pen. Do you have another one?
l’altre dia vaig trobar en Miquel al parc	the other day I ran into Michael in the park
si no t’agraden aquests caramels, en tinc d’altres	if you don’t like these sweets, I’ve got other ones
+ tens nous veïns? – sí, n’hi ha un que és tailandès	+ have you got new neighbours? – yes, and there is one (of them) coming from Thailand
hi ha ningú a casa?	is anybody at home?
crec que no hi ha ningú a casa	I think there’s nobody at home
jo sé poques coses, és veritat	I know few things, that’s true
hi ha molta gent, no?	there are too many people, aren’t there?
has begut molt d’aigua / molta aigua	you’ve drunk too much water
ja ens queden pocs amics	we’ve got few friends left