Lesson 92 · German A1-2

Quantifiers: viel, wenig, mehrere, alle

Mengenangaben

Words like "much," "many," "several," "all" - genuinely common and not yet gathered into one place. Today collects them, with the one grammar wrinkle that trips people up: singular vs. plural nouns take different quantifiers.

Today's win: correctly use viel/viele, wenig/wenige, and mehrere/alle/einige depending on whether the noun is singular or plural.

viel vs. viele: singular vs. plural

viel Gelda lot of money (singular, uncountable - das Geld)
viele Freundemany friends (plural, countable)

The same split applies to wenig/wenige ("little/few"): wenig Zeit (little time) vs. wenige Leute (few people).

Plural-only quantifiers

mehrereseveralmehrere Wohnungen (several apartments)
einigesomeeinige Dokumente (some documents)
alleallalle Termine (all appointments)

These three are only used with plural (or uncountable-as-plural) nouns - unlike viel/wenig, they don't have a singular counterpart with the same meaning.

In context

Ich habe viele Fragen. (I have many questions.)
Ich habe wenig Zeit. (I have little time.)
Ich habe mehrere Wohnungen besichtigt. (I've viewed several apartments - Lesson 8's vocabulary.)
Try it out loud: say one sentence with "viel" (singular noun) and one with "viele" (plural noun) about your own life right now.

Quick recall check

1. "Many friends" - ______ Freunde.

Show answer
viele

2. "A lot of money" - ______ Geld.

Show answer
viel

3. What's the word for "several"?

Show answer
mehrere

4. Do "mehrere," "einige," and "alle" take singular or plural nouns?

Show answer
plural

5. "I have little time." - Ich habe ______ Zeit.

Show answer
wenig

Primary source

Cross-checked against the Goethe-Institut A1 practice materials.

Unsure whether a specific noun needs viel or viele? Ask your teaching agent.