A great deal of, hardly any

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • quantity

Five expressions of quantity: a great deal of, plenty of, a handful of, hardly any and none of (Hardly any residents take the bus, but plenty of them would cycle). The student reads the results of a city survey, chooses the expression that fits the meaning and the noun, says things another way, fixes the usual mistakes, and answers a city planner's questions about their own neighborhood.

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a great deal ofhardly anyplenty of

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: the city surveyReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the expressionsGrammar exercise
  6. 6How much and how manyGrammar rule
  7. 7Which one fits?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Say it another wayGrammar exercise
  9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  10. 10Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  11. 11The city plannerSpeaking practice
  12. 12About youGrammar exercise
  13. 13Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: the school playGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: which sentence is correct?Grammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: twenty people, one questionDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Have you ever filled out a survey for your city, your school or your job? What was it about?
  2. What is the worst thing about traffic where you live?
  3. Is there enough parking, shade and green space on the streets near your home?

Grammar rule

How much and how many

Five expressions of quantity

ExpressionGoes withMeansExample
a great deal ofuncountable nouns only (time, money, noise)a lot of (a little formal)The new law caused a great deal of confusion.
plenty ofplural or uncountable nounsa lot, more than enoughWe have plenty of eggs and plenty of flour.
a handful ofplural nounsa small numberA handful of fans waited outside in the snow.
hardly anyplural or uncountable nounsalmost noneThere was hardly any snow this winter.
none ofthe / my / these / them… + a plural or uncountable nounnot one, not any (of a group)None of my cousins can swim. None of it was true.

From a lot to nothing: a great deal of / plenty of → a handful of → hardly any → none of.

More forms

  • hardly + anyone / anything / anywhere / ever: Hardly anyone called. We hardly ever eat out.
  • With no noun after them: We have plenty. Only a handful came. "How many came?" "None."
  • none of + us / you / them (object pronouns): None of them called.
  • Before the / my / these / us / them (part of a group we know), hardly any needs of too: hardly any of the food, hardly any of us. The others already have it: plenty of my friends, a handful of us.

Watch out

  • hardly is already negative: not hardly no and not didn't have hardly any: We got hardly any sleep. (= We got almost no sleep.)
  • a great deal of is for uncountable nouns: not a great deal of cars. With a plural, say a lot of or a large number of.
  • a handful of is for plural nouns: not a handful of advice. (A handful of nuts or rice is a real handful: as much as you can hold in one hand.)
  • none of needs the, my, these or a pronoun: not none of students → none of the students (or no students). And not none of they → none of them.
  • No of without a noun, and always of before one: not plenty seats → plenty of seats.
  • plenty of is for positive sentences and questions (Is there plenty of milk?). In a negative, say not much / not many: There isn't much time.

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