Modal Verbs, Relative Clauses, and Quantifiers
Modal Verbs
“Will” is used to form the future tense.
I will help you.
“Shall” is used like “will” to form the future tense.
Chris shall be happy to see you.
“Should” indicates an obligation or recommendation. It reflects an opinion about what is correct.
I should call my parents more often.
“Ought to” is a synonym of “should”.
I ought to call my parents more often.
“Must” indicates an obligation, prohibition, or necessity.
You must [have to] read this book; it’s fantastic.
“Would” is used to declare a preference and to ask for something politely.
She would like to go to New York someday.
Relative Clauses
Defining Relative Clauses
We use defining relative clauses to give essential information about someone or something – information that we need in order to understand what or who is being referred to. A defining relative clause usually comes immediately after the noun it describes.
We usually use a relative pronoun (e.g. who, that, which, whose, and whom) to introduce a defining relative clause (In the examples, the relative clause is in bold, and the person or thing being referred to is underlined.):
They’re the people who want to buy our house.
Here are some cells which have been affected.
They should give the money to somebody who they think needs the treatment most.
Non-defining Relative Clauses
We use non-defining relative clauses to give extra information about the person or thing. It is not necessary information. We don’t need it to understand who or what is being referred to.
We always use a relative pronoun (who, which, whose, or whom) to introduce a non-defining relative clause (In the examples, the relative clause is in bold, and the person or thing being referred to is underlined.)
Clare, who I work with, is doing the London marathon this year.
Not: Clare, I work with, is doing the London marathon this year.
Doctors use the testing kit for regular screening for lung and stomach cancers, which account for 70% of cancers treated in the western world.
Alice, who has worked in Brussels and London ever since leaving Edinburgh, will be starting a teaching course in the autumn.
Quantifiers
A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used before a noun to indicate the amount or quantity:
‘Some’, ‘many’, ‘a lot of’, and ‘a few’ are examples of quantifiers.
Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Examples:
- There are some books on the desk.
- He’s got only a few dollars.
- How much money have you got?
- There is a large quantity of fish in this river.
- He’s got more friends than his sister.
With Uncountable Nouns
- much
- a little/little/very little *
- a bit (of)
- a great deal of
- a large amount of
- a large quantity of
With Both Countable and Uncountable Nouns
- all
- enough
- more/most
- less/least
- no/none
- not any
- some
- any
- a lot of
- lots of
- plenty of
With Countable Nouns
- many
- a few/few/very few **
- a number (of)
- several
- a large number of
- a great number of
- a majority of
* NOTE
Few, very few mean that there is not enough of something.
A few means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.
** NOTE
Little, very little mean that there is not enough of something.
A little means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.