Quantifiers in German

Part ofGermanNouns, determiners and cases

Key points about quantifiers

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  • A quantifier is a word which demonstrates quantity or amount. It shows how much or how many of something exists. For example:

    • Ich habe viel Wasser getrunken.I drank lots of water.
    • Ich habe viele Orangen gekauft.I bought lots of oranges.

  • A quantifier can also be used as an to show intensity or the degree to which something is happening. For example:

    • Ich habe zu viel gegessen.I ate too much.
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Using quantifiers to demonstrate quantity

A quantifier shows how much or how many of something exists. Quantifiers are placed before a For example: viele Freundelots of friends, viel Zeita lot of time.

Some key quantifiers for GCSE:

GermanEnglish
much, a lot of
little, not much of
many, a lot of
few, not many of
all
some, several

Quantifiers fall into two important groups: countable and uncountable nouns.

A countable noun is something which can be counted. For example: viele Bücherlots of books, einige Äpfelseveral apples.

An uncountable noun cannot be counted. For example: viel Wassera lot of water, nicht viel Zeitnot a lot of time.

Examples:

  • - There are not many shops in my village.

  • - Some people came late to the party because there was lots of traffic.

The quantifiers viele, wenige, einige and alle also affected by the dative case with countable nouns. An additional –n is added to the noun in the dative plural.

Examples:

  • - I hope that I can work with lots of interesting people.

  • - The teacher helps all of the students.

  • - I am going to the theatre with some friends this evening.

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  1. There are lots of students in my school.

  1. I have little interest in golf.

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Using quantifiers as adverbs

The quantifiers viela lot and weniga little can also be used as adverbs to demonstrate the extent to which something happens.

When a quantifier is used as an adverb it follows the verb.

For example:

  • - I work a lot.

  • - My brother reads a lot.

  • - The children don’t play much in the garden because it is cold outside.

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