This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 234, Multitude or Plethora?
What are quantifiers and why do they matter?
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Hello, Aubrey. How's everything going? I'm great.
How are you, Lindsay? Good. Happy to be on Business English today.
I have a question to get us started today.
Here we go. Aubrey, do you ever have a lack of items on your to-do list?
Ooh, no, these days I feel like there is always a surplus of items on the to-do list.
What about you, Lindsay? Yeah, it's true.
I was just telling my partner last weekend, I remember a time in the history of All Ears English, I think it was 2017 or 18, I remember going to my desk and thinking, hmm, what should I do today?
But that has not happened since 2017. There's no lack of items on my to-do list is my answer to you.
Yes, I love it. That's good. It's good that you're busy.
We got lots of fun things happening here.
But I wanted to jump right in with this because lack of and surplus of, these are quantifiers.
And we recently promised a follow-up. We were talking about countable and uncountable nouns on episode 213 here of the Business English podcast.
And we were like, quantifiers are different depending on if it's accountable or uncountable now.
And we said, we'll follow up with that. So here it is.
Yeah, this is going to be another great nuts and bolts of grammar episode.
I'm excited and super applicable to the business world today, guys.
So hit that follow button if you are not officially following Business English because we do publish three days a week and you don't want to miss it.
And you may want to go back and check out 213, pause this one and then come back because this really you first need to understand the difference between countable and uncountable nouns.
And we shared the most common ones that we use at work in Business English in that episode.
And then come back here so you can get details for which quantifiers we use for each of these.
I like that idea. And just to announce the title, because sometimes it's hard to find the episode number.
Again, it is How to 80, 20 Countable and Uncountable Nouns in English.
So just look for that title about 20 episodes back.
All right. Yes. Awesome. So let's dive in here.
We're first going to talk about quantifiers for countable nouns.
So they are different, right? These quantifiers we're about to talk about, you cannot use them for an uncountable noun like research, advice, information, those things that aren't individual things that you can count.
These quantifiers we use for items that can be counted.
Okay, so things we can count. So first one is many or not many. right?
Exactly. Like many team members agreed with the decision.
I have many things to do today. Yeah. We know that we're counting it because we have the plural, right?
Members, things, that kind of thing. Yes.
And this is a common mistake that we will see students use much instead of many or many instead of much.
It does matter. Many is used with countable nouns.
And then we'll talk about much in a bit for uncountable.
Fun. Okay, here we go. And the next one is a number of so a number of graphs were shown during the meeting.
Right? I like this one. It sounds very professional for work, by the way.
Yes, exactly. And this is also a common mistake.
Even native speakers make this mistake. where um you will say at an amount of like the amount of people and instead we should say the number of people because it's countable this is a common mistake some people it's their pet peeve i've had people say oh it drives me crazy when someone says the amount of and then accountable now it seems sort of a silly thing to have be your pet peeve But now that you guys know, it does matter, quantifiers, which one you use.
Well, who are these grammarians that you're hanging out with, Aubrey?
Seriously, on TikTok? Oh my gosh, that's so funny.
But I think that one, the amount of people, I feel like in my mind that falls into the category of don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it. It's going to be rare, the grammar snobs.
Yes. That are bothered by that. And connection not perfect.
Come back to connection. That is what we'll tell you when there's a glaring mistake that will affect your connection.
I don't think that's one of them unless you're interfacing with a grammarian on TikTok, right?
Yeah, that's a good point. This is definitely something that I've said myself.
Every now and then someone will point it out to me.
I think they feel more comfortable doing this because I'm an English teacher.
Probably. But where I grew up, just like you said, Lindsay, this is a very accepted colloquial speech to use either amount or number.
Okay. So let's go on to the next one. This one's very high level, right?
What is that? Yes. A multitude of. I agree.
This is impressive. This sounds very professional.
You might say, her assistant asked for a multitude of forms.
And what does that mean? A lot, right? Just a lot.
Okay. So a large volume, right? A large volume.
And if we are being more casual, more informal, we might say a bunch, tons, a lot, right?
But multitude of, as well as the next one we were about to teach, are more professional.
If you're wanting to impress or if you're speaking to someone you don't know well at work, this is a great one to use.
Right, and don't forget, guys, our philosophy in business English is you need informal, semi-formal, and formal English, and we show it all to you.
You may use every range of the vocabulary words in a given day, right, between the break room, lunch with a colleague or client, and then a formal meeting, your presentation.
You're gonna go back and forth, so you're gonna get it all here.
I would say a number of is sort of semi-formal, right?
A number of graphs were shown. This is a little up-leveled as well.
And then informal, right? many not many a bunch right there are a lot of informal ways to say this as well that's true we've got a range right here right a nice range i love that okay abercrombie's viral denim sale is back and spotify listeners get an extra 15 off with code spotify af abercrombie is known for their denim with 30 to 50 off all jeans find out how denim should feel shop the viral denim sale in the abercrombie app online or in stores Valid in stores and online through August 11th, 2025 in US and Canada.
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Exclusions apply, see details online. Okay, let's move on to number two, the second category.
What is that second category then, Aubrey?
Yeah, so these are quantifiers for uncountable nouns.
And we dove into what's the difference and some examples in that last episode, right?
We use a lot of these at work. Information, advice, software, research, things that you can't count.
This one's interesting. All right. So much, much and not much.
So your example here is much research was provided to back up the decision.
But I feel like your average native speaker wouldn't say that.
If you're speaking more informally, you definitely wouldn't say instead say like a lot of research, a lot of research was provided.
But this does. I feel like, you know, in a presentation, in a meeting, I will hear this.
If someone is trying to sound more professional, much research was provided.
Mm hmm. So you might hear also, as we said, the very informal way, a lot of research.
But when it's in the negative, I think it's more common to hear not much research was provided.
So or just the response if someone says, you know, what are you doing this weekend to say not much, not much that we hear all the time.
Right, right, right. A good episode for All Ears English podcast talking about your daily life.
Yeah, right. Okay, what's the next one? So next is an amount of.
So this is sort of the yin and yang to a number of, right?
A number of countable things, an amount of uncountable, like For example, the speakers provided a large amount of information at the conference.
That's how conferences always are. You come back with so many ideas and then you try to implement them.
Exactly. There we go. And then next one, a quantity of.
This is interesting. So a large quantity of knowledge is held by his team.
So let's work together to come up with a solution.
This one feels a little wordy, a little awkward to me.
Yeah, it means the same as amount of, right?
A quantity of. I feel like I heard this a lot when I was doing my thesis for my master's degree.
Right. And we're talking about quantitative term papers, you know, your thesis, your master's thesis.
So this feels a little more academic to me.
Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. OK. A large quantity of or just thinking about a fit like physically a physical amount of items.
Like the trunk in this sedan can hold a large quantity of, I don't know, oranges or something like just more about physical stuff rather than, I don't know, that's what I think of it as.
Interesting. Yeah, it is fascinating. This is one of those things that a lot of native speakers don't care that much about.
Right. You might hear academics. You may if you're trying to really impress in a meeting, in an interview, then it matters a little more.
But, you know, native speakers, whether you use quantity or number, they're not going to bat an eye either way.
All right. So what's the next one, Aubrey?
What's the next one? This one is a great deal of or a good deal of, someone might say, I felt a great deal of anticipation before the event.
So all of these, I like that you're pointing out, Lindsay, we don't use them that often.
At work, often we are a little more informal, a little more semi-formal.
You're much more likely to hear a lot of, tons of.
But now at least you know what they mean.
You can use them if you're trying to up-level your vocabulary.
Oh, for sure. There's always a way to up-level.
I think a great deal of feels a little semi-formal.
A good deal of, I like that in-between formal and informal.
It also feels a little older. Maybe someone recounting their life if they're older towards the end of their lives.
I felt a great deal of pressure when I...
Went overseas in World War II or something, right?
So that kind of thing. Yes, I agree. That makes sense.
Because when you're, if it is sort of a memoir or something, looking back, we sort of get a little poetic in the way we speak.
And this does sound a little more poetic to me, a great deal, a great deal of pressure, a great deal of time.
Yep. It's got poetic notes to it for sure.
For sure. Okay. Let's see all these kind of mashed up here into a role play.
So here, Aubrey, we are coworkers. We're discussing an internal audit.
Okay. All right. I'll start us out. The accountant asked for a multitude of documents.
Oh, it's quite the list. We're going to need a plethora of individuals to compile it all.
I know there was a great deal of foreboding about this audit and now I can see why.
This happened last year too. They always need a number of forms.
I can totally see this conversation happening about an internal audit.
Everyone's stressed out. Not at our company.
We're a little more casual than that. So it does depend on your company vibe and your communication style, who you're talking to.
This to me felt quite formal. Yes, definitely.
These are definitely coworkers who maybe don't work together that much or not as closely because we are, instead of just saying a lot of tons, we're using these higher level, less common hires.
Yeah, so first you said the accountant asked for a multitude of documents.
Right off the bat, I know we're going forward.
Countable nouns, right? You can count how many documents there are, a multitude of documents.
Good, and then I said, what did I say? Yeah, you said we're going to need a plethora of individuals.
This is a bonus, a new one, which is also for countable nouns.
It means the same as a multitude of, a lot of, you would never say this for just a few things.
It's almost, I feel like we use this to emphasize how many there are, right?
A plethora of forms. And I bet that would be a secret weapon in your back pocket on the IELTS exam too, right, Aubrey?
Absolutely. Plethora of? Band nine vocabulary for sure.
Band nine. Damn, you got it. Band nine. So guys, go over, check out the IELTS Energy Podcast where Aubrey and Jessica are over there getting you ready for the test.
If you're taking the IELTS exam. And then you said, I know there was a great deal of foreboding, right?
And foreboding, another high level word.
What does that mean? This is sort of a bonus here.
This means a sense that something bad is going to happen.
I see this pretty often. I feel like a sense of foreboding.
Yeah. If I find out like something negative happened, we're like, okay.
I did have a bit of a sense of foreboding about that.
I think my parents said it a lot. That's what's been passed on to me.
Interesting. I don't say that very much, but we all have our own personal vocabulary.
Very interesting. And then what's the last thing?
And then you said they always need a number of forms.
So again, like you pointed out, this is more formal.
If it were two coworkers who know each other very well, you'd just say they always need tons of forms, lots of forms, right?
Yeah. I mean, I think a number of kind of falls more into like the semi-formal, like a great deal of, but again, it's not an exact science, right?
We're kind of creating these terms, informal, semi-formal and formal.
This is kind of one of the things we talk about around business English, because we know you guys, Don't wanna feel like robots.
You don't become a robot as soon as you walk into, at least not at this point in 2024, when we walk into the doors of our workplace, right, Aubrey?
So we're not all formal with our English all the time.
Exactly, right. Though this isn't something to stress out about.
No one's going to look at you sideways. If you use one of these when you actually know them really well, they might just be impressed that you're adding some new interesting vocabulary to your repertoire, right?
You can go a long way. Words go a long way in terms of how people look at your competence level, right?
Unfortunately, that's just the way it is.
We're a verbal culture, and people may, and that's good, we can use that to our advantage.
The more words we have, people will kind of make an assumption that we have that competence, and we do have it, so then we have those doors open for us.
And it just helps us avoid repetition, right?
In the same conversation, if you need to use quantifiers, talk about amounts of lots of different things, You don't want to have to say a lot of over and over and over, right?
Not just for IELTS. Just in daily conversations, you don't want to be repetitive.
So it's great to have lots of options. And now you've got them.
Good stuff. That is the takeaway right there, right?
Having options and also understanding that this is a quick hack, a quick way we can up-level the way our coworkers look at us.
We have these high-level words. there will be an assumption of competence, right?
It's really good. It's a good thing. Absolutely.
Yes, right? You seem very intelligent when you say a plethora.
I think so. I'm impressed. It's a hack. It's a hack for sure.
All right. Good stuff, Aubrey. You have a good rest of your day and I'll talk to you soon.
You too. Thanks, Lindsay. Bye. thank you for listening to business english a podcast just for you the high achieving global professional want more from all ears english don't miss our biggest and best podcast with 8 million monthly downloads just search for the all ears english podcast and hit follow to get four new episodes per week on fluency american culture grammar and so much more or tap the link in the show notes.
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