Collins Cobuild English Grammar (52 page)

A few
crossed over the bridge.
Some parts can be separated from
the whole
.
I have four bins. I keep one in the kitchen and
the rest
in the dustbin area.
Most of the books had been packed into an enormous trunk and
the remainder
piled on top of it.

USAGE NOTE

2.191
  You can add adjectives to
a number of
and
a quantity of
to say how large or small an amount or number of things is.

The city attracts
a large number of
tourists.
We had
a limited number of
people to choose from.
The novel provides
an enormous quantity of
information.
…
a tiny quantity of
acid.

An amount of
is always used with adjectives, and is usually used with uncountable nouns.

Pour
a small amount of
the sauce over the chicken.
He has
a large amount of
responsibility.
It only involves
a small amount of
time.
There has to be
a certain amount of
sacrifice.
They have done
a vast amount of
hard work.

The plural forms of
quantity
,
number
, and
amount
are used, especially when referring to separate amounts.

…groups that employ
large numbers of
low-paid workers.
Enormous amounts of
money are spent on advertising.

modifying quantity expressions

2.192
  When a quantity expression contains an adjective, you can put
very
in front of the adjective.

…
a very great deal of
work.
…
a very large amount of
money.

2.193
  Some quantity expressions can be modified using
quite
.

I’ve wasted
quite enough of
my life here.
Quite a few of
the employees are beginning to realise the truth.
Most of them have had
quite a lot of
experience.
…
quite a large amount of
industry.

Here is a list of quantity expressions that can be modified by
quite
:

enough

a few

a lot of

a large amount of

a small amount of

a number of

a large number of

Talking about particular amounts of things:
a piece of paper
,
a drop of water

2.194
  When you want to talk about a particular quantity of something, you can use a
partitive
structure that consists of a particular partitive (e.g.
piece
) linked by
of
to another noun. Partitives are always countable nouns.

Who owns this
bit of
land?
…
portions of
mashed potato.

If the partitive is singular, then the verb used with it is usually singular. If it is plural, the verb is also plural.

A piece of paper
is
lifeless.
Two pieces of metal
were
being rubbed together.

Note that all partitives consist of two or more words, because
of
is needed in every case.
Of
is printed in the lists below as a reminder.

partitives with uncountable nouns

2.195
  When the noun after the partitive is an uncountable noun, you use countable nouns such as
bit
,
drop
,
lump
, or
piece
as the partitive.

Here’s a
bit of
paper.
…a
drop of
blood.
Drops of
sweat dripped from his forehead.
…a tiny
piece of
material.
…a
pinch of
salt.
…
specks of
dust.

These partitives can be used without
of
when it is obvious what you are talking about.

He sat down in the kitchen before a plate of cold ham, but he had only eaten one
piece
when the phone rang.

2.196
  Here is a list of partitives used with uncountable nouns:

amount of

bit of

blob of

chunk of

clump of

dash of

drop of

grain of

heap of

knob of

lump of

mass of

morsel of

mountain of

piece of

pile of

pinch of

pool of

portion of

scrap of

sheet of

shred of

slice of

speck of

spot of

touch of

trace of

Some of these partitives are also used with plural nouns referring to things that together form a mass.

…a huge
heap of
stones.
…a
pile of
newspapers.

Here is a list of partitives used with both uncountable and plural nouns:

amount of

clump of

heap of

mass of

mountain of

pile of

portion of

BE CREATIVE

2.197
  Many nouns that refer to the shape of an amount of something can also be partitives with uncountable or plural nouns.

…a
ball of
wool.
…
columns of
smoke.
…a
ring of
excited faces.

Here is a list of partitives used for talking about the shape of an amount of something:

ball of

column of

ring of

shaft of

square of

stick of

strip of

thread of

tuft of

wall of

Many nouns that refer to both shape and movement can also be used as partitives.

It blew a
jet of
water into the air.
…a constant
stream of
children passing through the door.

Here is a list of partitives used for talking about both shape and movement:

dribble of

gush of

gust of

jet of

shower of

spurt of

stream of

torrent of

BE CREATIVE

You can use any noun to describe shape in this way. For example you can talk about
a triangle of snooker balls
.

2.198
  There are many nouns that refer to groups that can be used as partitives. They are linked by
of
to plural nouns that indicate what the group consists of.