Quantifiers
All or none
All (of) the people are here.
Not all (of) the people are here.
All (of) the people are not here.
None of the people are here.
Not any of the people are here. |
100% are here.
Less than 100%
Not well defined. Could be “not all” or “none”
0% Focus on "people" (are)
0% Focus on "each" individual (is) |
Some, Most, Many, Several, Few, A Few, A lot of
Some (of the) people are here.
Some (of the) people are not here.
Most of the people are here.
Most of the people are not here.
Many (of the) people are here.
Many (of the) people are not here
Not many (of the) people are here.
Several (of the) people are here
A few (of the) people are here.
Few (of the) people are here.
A lot of (the) people are here.
A lot of (the) people are not here.
Not a lot of (the) people are here.
Three (of the) people are here.
Three (of the) people are not here.
Half of the people are here.
Half of the people are not here.
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Focus: positive
Focus: negative
Focus: positive
(uncommon)
Focus: positive
(uncommon)
Focus: negative. More people were expected.
Focus: positive
Focus: positive. At least some are here.
Focus: negative. More people were expected.
Focus: positive
Focus: negative
Focus: negative. More people were expected.
Focus: positive
Focus: negative
Focus: positive 50% are here.
Focus: negative 50% are absent.
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Both, neither, one
Both (of the) people are here.
One of the people is here.
One of the people is not here
Neither of the people is here.
Neither of the people are here.
|
100% are here.
Focus: positive
Focus: negative
Focus: negative
Focus: 100% are absent. (Very informal)
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In questions
Are all of the people here?
Are most of the people here?
Are any of the people here?
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Yes, all of them are.
Some of them are. Most of them are.
No, none of them are. No, not many of them are.
No, only some of them are.
Yes, some of them are. Yes, most of them are.
No, none of them are.
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Answers may differ depending on the questions:
| Is anyone here? |
Yes, I am.
(X) No, Jim isn’t here.
Even if only one person is here, the answer is positive.
(One person can answer for the whole group.)
The answer can be negative only if 0% are here.
For 1-100%, the answer is positive. |
| Is everyone here? |
(X) Yes, I am.
Yes, we (all) are.
No, Jim isn’t here.
If even one person is not here, the answer is negative.
(One person cannot independently speak for the group.)
The answer can be positive only if 100% are here.
For 0-99%, the answer is negative.
Other possibilities:
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