THE DEMONSTRATIVES

THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE

1. Function

The demonstratives this, that, these, those ,show where an object or person is in relation to the speaker.
This (singular) and these (plural) refer to an object or person near the speaker. That (singular) and those (plural) refer to an object or person further away. It can be a physical closeness or distance as in:

• Who owns that house? (distant)
• Is this John's house? (near)

Or it can be a psychological distance as in:

• That's nothing to do with me.. (distant)
• This is a nice surprise! (near)

2. Position

• Before the noun.
• Before the word 'one'.
• Before an adjective + noun.
• Alone when the noun is 'understood'.

Examples

• This car looks cleaner than that one.
• This old world keeps turning round
• Do you remember that wonderful day in June?
• I'll never forget this.

 THE DISTRIBUTIVES

ALL, BOTH, HALF

These words can be used in the following ways:

ALL +

1 2 3 4a 4b

- the my, your, etc. this, that these, those

Uncountable noun or Countable noun in the plural Uncountable noun Countable noun in the plural

Examples
1.	All cheese contains protein All children need affection
2.	All the people in the room were silent. Have you eaten all the bread?
3.	I've invited all my friends to the party. I've been waiting all my life for this opportunity.
4a.	Who's left all this paper on my desk?
4b.	Look at all those balloons!

BOTH +

1 2 3 4

- the Compare: Punctuation

Non-defining relative clauses are always separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. The commas have a similar function to brackets:

Examples
1.	Both children were born in Italy.
2.	He has crashed both (of) the cars.
3.	Both (of) my parents have fair hair.
4	You can take both (of) these books back to the library. See note below

HALF +

1 2 3 4

a the Thing Place

Uncountable or Object

Examples
1.	I bought half a kilo of apples yesterday.
2.	You can have half (of) the cake. She gave me half (of) the apples.
3.	I've already given you half (of) my money. Half (of) his books were in French.
4	Half (of) these snakes are harmless You can take half (of) this sugar.

NOTE: All, both, half + OF: 'OF' must be added when followed by a pronoun:

All of you; both of us; half of themIt is also quite common to add it in most of the above situations except when there is no article (No.1 in all the tables above.)

THE QUANTIFIERS

Some and Any

Some and any are used with countable and uncountable nouns, to describe an indefinite or incomplete quantity.

Some is used in positive statements:

Examples

• I had some rice for lunch
• He's got some books from the library.

It is also used in questions where we are sure about the answer:

Examples

• Did he give you some tea? (= I'm sure he did.)
• Is there some fruit juice in the fridge? (= I think there is)

Some is used in situations where the question is not a request for information, but a method of making a request, encouraging or giving an invitation:

Examples

• Could I have some books, please?
• Why don't you take some books home with you?
• Would you like some books?

Any is used in questions and with not in negative statements:

Examples

• Have you got any tea?
• He didn't give me any tea.
• I don't think we've got any coffee left.

SOME in positive sentences.

Examples

• I will have some news next week.
• She has some valuable books in her house.
• Philip wants some help with his exams.
• There is some butter in the fridge.
• We need some cheese if we want to make a fondue.

SOME in questions:

Examples

• Would you like some help?
• Will you have some more roast beef?

ANY in negative sentences

Examples

• She doesn't want any kitchen appliances for Christmas.
• They don't want any help moving to their new house.
• No, thank you. I don't want any more cake.
• There isn't any reason to complain.

ANY in interrogative sentences

Examples

• Do you have any friends in London?
• Have they got any children?
• Do you want any groceries from the shop?
• Are there any problems with your work?

THE QUANTIFIERS

Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO

Some +	-thing	-body	-one	-where
Any +
No +

Compound nouns with some- and any- are used in the same way as some and any.

Positive statements:

Examples

• Someone is sleeping in my bed.
• He saw something in the garden.
• I left my glasses somewhere in the house.

Questions:

Examples

• Are you looking for someone? (= I'm sure you are)
• Have you lost something? (= I'm sure you have)
• Is there anything to eat? (real question)
• Did you go anywhere last night?

Negative statements:

Examples

• She didn't go anywhere last night.
• He doesn't know anybody here.

NOTICE that there is a difference in emphasis between nothing, nobody etc. and not ... anything,not ... anybody:

Examples

• I don't know anything about it. (= neutral, no emphasis)
• I know nothing about it (= more emphatic, maybe defensive)

SOMETHING, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE

Examples

• I have something to tell you.
• There is something to drink in the fridge.
• He knows somebody in New York
• Susie has somebody staying with her.
• They want to go somewhere hot for their holidays.
• Keith is looking for somewhere to live.

ANYBODY, ANYTHING, ANYWHERE

Examples

• Is there anybody who speaks English here?
• Does anybody have the time?
• Is there anything to eat?
• Have you anything to say?
• He doesn't have anything to stay tonight.
• I wouldn't eat anything except at Maxim's.

NOBODY, NOTHING, NOWHERE

Examples

• There is nobody in the house at the moment
• When I arrived there was nobody to meet me.
• I have learnt nothing since I began the course.
• There is nothing to eat.
• There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris in the Spring.
• Homeless people have nowhere to go at night.

ANY can also be used in positive statements to mean 'no matter which', 'no matter who', 'no matter what':

Examples

• You can borrow any of my books.
• They can choose anything from the menu.
• You may invite anybody to dinner, I don't mind.

THE QUANTIFIERS

A few and few, a little and little

These expressions show the speaker's attitude towards the quantity he/she is referring to.

A few (for countable nouns) and a little (for uncountable nouns) describe the quantity in a positiveway:

These words can be used in the following ways:

• "I've got a few friends" (= maybe not many, but enough)
• "I've got a little money" (= I've got enough to live on)

Few and little describe the quantity in a negative way:

These words can be used in the following ways:

• Few people visited him in hospital (= he had almost no visitors)
• He had little money (= almost no money)