Core Quantifiers: كل, بعض, كتير, and شوي | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Lebanese does not have one general word matching English some, all, much, and many. Four extremely frequent quantifiers divide the work: كل kell presents a complete set or distributes over every member, بعض baʿḍ selects part of a group, كتير ktīr gives a large amount, and شوي shwayy gives a small amount or degree.

All four occur in everyday speech, but they build different noun phrases. The noun after كل may be singular or definite according to meaning; كتير and شوي usually combine directly with a bare plural or mass noun; بعض is especially common before a definite plural in neutral or educated speech. This page uses the (informal: urban Beirut) production baseline.

The core form-and-noun patterns

Quantifier	Counted noun pattern	Core meaning	Natural phrase
كل kell	bare singular	every / each	كل طالب kell ṭāleb “every student”
كل kell	definite plural or mass noun	all the / all of the	كل الطلاب kell eṭ-ṭollēb “all the students”
بعض baʿḍ	usually definite plural	some (members) of a set	بعض الطلاب baʿḍ eṭ-ṭollēb “some students / some of the students”
كتير ktīr	bare plural or mass noun	many / much / a lot of	كتير رسائل ktīr rasēyel “many messages”
شوي shwayy	bare mass noun	a little / some	شوي مي shwayy mayy “a little water”
شوية shwayye	bare plural or mass noun	a few / a little	شوية كتب shwayyet ktob “a few books”

The table is a starting point, not a word-for-word translation chart. Definiteness and position can change the interpretation, while count versus mass vocabulary determines the noun form. Review count and mass nouns rather than copying English countability.

كل: every member or the complete set

With a bare singular count noun, كل distributes over members one by one. English also uses a singular after every, so كل طالب is easier to remember than its plural meaning might suggest.

كل طالب لازم يبعت اسمه قبل الجمعة.

kell ṭāleb lāzem yibʿat ismo ʾabl el-zhomʿa.

Every student has to send their name before Friday. (neutral spoken; distributive singular)

منحكي مع أمي كل يوم بعد الشغل.

mniḥke maʿ imme kell yōm baʿd esh-shoghl.

We talk to my mother every day after work. (informal; repeated time unit)

With a definite plural or identified mass noun, كل exhausts the whole set: كل الطلاب “all the students,” كل المي “all the water.” The article is not decorative; it distinguishes a known totality from the class-wide “every” reading.

كل الضيوف وصلوا، فينا نبلش العشا.

kell eḍ-ḍyūf wiṣlo, fīna nballesh el-ʿasha.

All the guests have arrived; we can start dinner. (informal; complete identified set)

شربوا كل القهوة وما تركولنا شي.

shirbo kell el-ʾahwe w-ma tarakūlna shi.

They drank all the coffee and didn't leave us any. (informal; total amount of a mass noun)

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Ask what كل ranges over. كل طالب visits the students one by one; كل الطلاب takes the already known group as a complete set.

بعض: a nonexhaustive subset

بعض selects part, but not all, of a plural set. (neutral spoken / educated) بعض الطلاب is common in explanations, interviews, and careful conversation. In very relaxed talk, speakers also use existential phrases such as في طلاب “there are students / some students,” so do not assume بعض is required every time English has unstressed some.

بعض الموظفين بيشتغلوا من البيت نهار الجمعة.

baʿḍ el-mwaẓẓafīn byishtaghalo min el-bēt nhār el-zhomʿa.

Some employees work from home on Fridays. (neutral spoken; nonexhaustive subset)

قريت بعض الرسائل، والباقي خليتهن لبكرا.

ʾrēt baʿḍ er-rasēyel, wil-bēʾe khallēton la-bokra.

I read some of the messages and left the rest for tomorrow. (informal; a subset contrasted with the remainder)

The suffixed form can replace the noun: بعضن “some of them.” The same spelling participates in reciprocal expressions, where context and the verb make “each other” clear: ساعدوا بعضن “they helped each other.” See reciprocal بعض.

بعضن وافقوا، وبعضن بعدن عم يفكروا.

baʿḍon wāfaʾo, w-baʿḍon baʿdon ʿam yfakkro.

Some of them agreed, and some are still thinking. (informal; suffixed partitive pronoun)

كتير and شوي: quantity and degree

Before a bare plural or mass noun, invariable كتير means “many/much” and شوي/شوية means “a little/a few.” They do not copy the noun's gender or plural marking.

عنا كتير شغل وشوي وقت.

ʿinna ktīr shoghl w-shwayy waʾt.

We have a lot of work and little time. (informal; two mass nouns)

جبت شوية صور من السفرة.

zhebt shwayyet ṣowar min es-safra.

I brought a few photos from the trip. (informal; small plural quantity)

Both words also work adverbially. كتير منيح strengthens an adjective, بحبه كتير measures a verb, and تعبان شوي lowers the degree. English often needs different words—many, much, very, a lot—where Lebanese reuses كتير.

هاد المطعم منيح كتير، بس غالي شوي.

hād el-maṭʿam mnīḥ ktīr, bass ghāle shwayy.

This restaurant is really good, but a little expensive. (informal; degree uses after adjectives)

اشتقتلكن كتير بهالسفرة.

ishtaʾtelkon ktīr b-hal-safra.

I missed you all a lot on this trip. (informal; verbal degree)

To select part of an identified amount, insert من: شوي من المي “some of the water,” كتير من الطلاب “many of the students.” Direct شوي المي and كتير الطلاب are not the Beirut baseline for these meanings. The full contrast appears under quantifier definiteness.

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With كتير and شوي, a bare noun gives an unspecified quantity. Add من before an identified source set: كتير طلاب versus كتير من الطلاب.

Prices, time, and exact versus approximate amounts

Quantifiers coexist naturally with exact numbers. كل can distribute a price over individual items, while شوي can deliberately leave a duration vague.

كل تذكرة حقها عشرين دولار.

kell tazkara ḥaʾʾa ʿishrīn dōlār.

Each ticket costs twenty dollars. (informal; price read aloud distributively)

بعد في شوي وقت، شي عشر دقايق.

baʿd fī shwayy waʾt, shi ʿashar dʾāyeʾ.

There's still a little time—about ten minutes. (informal; approximate time)

Here is a practical office dialogue with an estimate followed by an exact quantity:

قديش نسخ بدنا للاجتماع، شي عشرين؟

ʾaddēsh nosakh bidna lal-izhtimēʿ, shi ʿishrīn?

Maya: How many copies do we need for the meeting—about twenty? (informal; estimate with شي)

بدنا تمنتعشر نسخة بالضبط، وبعضن لازم يكونوا ملونين.

bidna tmantaʿashar noskha biḍ-ḍabṭ, w-baʿḍon lāzem ykūno mlawwanīn.

Rami: We need exactly eighteen copies, and some of them have to be in color. (informal; exact total plus subset)

Common Mistakes

Using a plural after distributive كل

❌ كل طلاب لازم يبعتوا اسمن.

Incorrect for ‘every student’—the distributive pattern takes a bare singular noun.

✅ كل طالب لازم يبعت اسمه.

kell ṭāleb lāzem yibʿat ismo.

Every student has to send their name. (neutral spoken; singular after كل)

Sending definiteness straight through كتير

❌ كتير الطلاب تأخروا.

Incorrect for ‘many of the students’ in the Beirut baseline—an identified source set needs من.

✅ كتير من الطلاب تأخروا.

ktīr min eṭ-ṭollēb tʾakhkharo.

Many of the students were late. (neutral spoken; partitive من)

Making كتير agree like an adjective

❌ عنا كتار رسائل اليوم.

Incorrect in the quantifier phrase—كتير is invariable before the plural noun.

✅ عنا كتير رسائل اليوم.

ʿinna ktīr rasēyel el-yōm.

We have many messages today. (informal; invariable quantifier)

Treating شوي as only a noun quantifier

❌ تعبان شوية وقت.

Incorrect—‘a little tired’ needs adverbial شوي; وقت would create an unrelated quantity phrase.

✅ تعبان شوي، بدي ارتاح.

taʿbān shwayy, badde rtēḥ.

I'm a little tired; I want to rest. (informal; degree adverb)

Key Takeaways

Use كل + bare singular for “every,” but كل + definite plural/mass for “all the.” Use بعض for a nonexhaustive subset, with بعضن when the group is pronominal. Invariable كتير and شوي/شوية quantify bare nouns and also modify adjectives or verbs. Add من when the quantity comes out of a definite, already identified set.

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