several | a few of – English Grammar Profiler

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 39 in the category of DETERMINERS is defined as:

wide range of quantifying determiners with plural nouns (‘several’, ‘millions of’, ‘a few of’).

*Note that if ‘millions of’ is used as hyperbole, then it is a C1 point.

TLC, Speaking test examples:

There are very few sports cars in Sri Lanka. We don’t really take those out on the roads.

Just park it at home, show it to a few of our friends who come.

Male, Sri Lanka, B2

There are several rules in the school like no playing in the corridor.

Male, Marwari, B1

Every week, millions of people go to the cinema or watch films on TV.

Female, Italy, B1

A search in iWeb for:

several _NN

1 SEVERAL YEARS 253457 2 SEVERAL TIMES 212633 3 SEVERAL MONTHS 93809 4 SEVERAL DAYS 75351 5 SEVERAL WEEKS 61815 6 SEVERAL HOURS 55311 7 SEVERAL HUNDRED 46139 8 SEVERAL WAYS 43403 9 SEVERAL PEOPLE 36803 10 SEVERAL REASONS 32742 11 SEVERAL THINGS 25180 12 SEVERAL FACTORS 25013 13 SEVERAL MINUTES 24697 14 SEVERAL THOUSAND 23694 15 SEVERAL TYPES 22162 16 SEVERAL DECADES 21831 17 SEVERAL OPTIONS 20952 18 SEVERAL OCCASIONS 19843 19 SEVERAL OTHERS 17994 20 SEVERAL STUDIES 13708 21 SEVERAL BOOKS 13087 22 SEVERAL AREAS 12253 23 SEVERAL PLACES 12182 24 SEVERAL STATES 12080 25 SEVERAL COMPANIES 10438 26 SEVERAL COUNTRIES 10076 27 SEVERAL MEMBERS 9914 28 SEVERAL STEPS 9043 29 SEVERAL DOZEN 8091 30 SEVERAL MILES 7726 31 SEVERAL PIECES 7664 32 SEVERAL SECONDS 7615 33 SEVERAL LOCATIONS 7317 34 SEVERAL METHODS 7198 35 SEVERAL LAYERS 7110 36 SEVERAL QUESTIONS 6972 37 SEVERAL ADVANTAGES 6929 38 SEVERAL INCHES 6854 39 SEVERAL GENERATIONS 6843 40 SEVERAL POINTS 6777 41 SEVERAL PROJECTS 6713 42 SEVERAL MILLION 6611 43 SEVERAL ITEMS 6598 44 SEVERAL ATTEMPTS 6529 45 SEVERAL SOURCES 6476 46 SEVERAL ISSUES 6468 47 SEVERAL FEET 6442 48 SEVERAL EXAMPLES 6356 49 SEVERAL CASES 6352

50 SEVERAL SPECIES 6226

a few of * _NN

1 A FEW OF THE THINGS 3417 2 A FEW OF MY FAVORITES 2205 3 A FEW OF MY FRIENDS 1742 4 A FEW OF THE REASONS 1665 5 A FEW OF THE WAYS 1637 6 A FEW OF OUR FAVORITES 1601 7 A FEW OF THE BENEFITS 1052 8 A FEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS 986 9 A FEW OF THE FEATURES 933 10 A FEW OF THE QUESTIONS 881 11 A FEW OF THE ITEMS 849 12 A FEW OF THE PEOPLE 641 13 A FEW OF OUR FAVOURITES 524 14 A FEW OF THE OPTIONS 519 15 A FEW OF THE TOPICS 455 16 A FEW OF THE GUYS 446 17 A FEW OF THE ISSUES 400 18 A FEW OF MY FAVORITE 374 19 A FEW OF HIS FRIENDS 353 20 A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE 348 21 A FEW OF THE ACTIVITIES 346 22 A FEW OF THE PROBLEMS 344 23 A FEW OF THE WORDS 330 24 A FEW OF THE PLACES 329 25 A FEW OF THE NAMES 323 26 A FEW OF THE ONES 323 27 A FEW OF MY FAVOURITES 315 28 A FEW OF THE COMMENTS 293 29 A FEW OF THE OTHERS 293 30 A FEW OF THE PLAYERS 290 31 A FEW OF THESE THINGS 286 32 A FEW OF THE SONGS 281 33 A FEW OF THE FACTORS 279 34 A FEW OF THESE TIPS 277 35 A FEW OF THE AREAS 268 36 A FEW OF THE HUNDREDS 260 37 A FEW OF THE IDEAS 260 38 A FEW OF THE PHOTOS 244 39 A FEW OF MY THOUGHTS 243 40 A FEW OF THE PRODUCTS 241 41 A FEW OF THE BASICS 234 42 A FEW OF THESE IDEAS 232 43 A FEW OF THE BOYS 231 44 A FEW OF YOUR FRIENDS 231 45 A FEW OF THE DETAILS 226 46 A FEW OF THE GIRLS 221 47 A FEW OF THE TOOLS 220 48 A FEW OF THE BOOKS 211 49 A FEW OF THE COMPANIES 210

50 A FEW OF THE CHANGES 203

A2 Vocabulary:

activities, areas, cases, companies, details, few, guys, hundred, ideas,

members, million, pieces, points, projects, reasons, seconds, several, songs, thousand, types, ways

B1:

advantages, attempts, benefits, comments, dozen, favourites, generations, inches, issues, items,

locations, methods, miles, occasions, options, products, steps, thoughts, tips, topics