Articles etc : a lot of / lots of

a lot of / lots of

A lot of and lots of tend to be used in positive statements, but they can also be used after not:

We've had a lot of complaints recently.

Have you got much money on you? > Not a lot.

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Articles etc : Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable and uncountable nouns

Some determiners depend on whether the following noun is countable or uncountable.

For example:
Countable nouns use many and a few:

I don't take many days off.

I had a few days off last month.

Uncountable nouns use much and little:

It didn't take much time to finish it off.

I have very little free time at the moment.

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Articles etc : Determiners, Some and Any

Articles etc

Determiners
This section deals with that area known as determiners - articles (a/an, the),cquantifiers (some, any, a few etc), possessives (my, your etc) - the words which come in front of nouns and before adjectives.

Some and any
We used to give students the simple but misleading rule: use some in positive statements and any in negative statements and questions. This reduced the problem to a structural one when the real problem was the difference in meaning between some and any.

Some is used to talk about a restricted quantity or amount:

I've got some very nice friends. I'm very lucky.
I know some people who never vote.
I don't like some modern music.

Any is used when the quantity or amount is unrestricted:

He doesn't have any friends. He's so difficult.
I don't know anyone who doesn't vote Labour.
I don't like any modern music.

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