Complex quantifiers (la mayoría de, la mitad de, un sinfín de)

La mayoría de los estudiantes aprobó el examen.Most of the students passed the exam.

You already know simple quantity words such as mucho, poco, bastante and demasiado. At B2 you also need the longer phrases that talk about a part of a group (la mayoría de, la mitad de) or about a very large amount (un sinfín de, miles de). They all share one feature: a noun-like quantifier, then de, then the thing being counted.

Quick shortcut: quantifier + de + (article) + noun, as in la mayoría de los estudiantes, la mitad del pastel, miles de personas. The word de always stays, and the article after it appears when you mean a specific group (los estudiantes), but not in fixed phrases like miles de personas.

Parts of a whole: la mayoría, la mayor parte, el resto

To say that a part of a group or a whole does something, Spanish uses a noun-like quantifier followed by de:

• la mayoría de los estudiantes (most of the students)
• la mayor parte del tiempo (most of the time)
• buena parte de las ventas (a good part of the sales)
• el resto de los invitados (the rest of the guests)
• una minoría de los votantes (a minority of the voters)

La mayoría de is the usual choice with a countable plural group (los estudiantes, las personas). With a singular or uncountable noun, la mayor parte de is a frequent and often preferred choice: la mayor parte del tiempo, la mayor parte del dinero. (La mayoría del tiempo is also heard.) After de, the definite article normally appears when you mean a specific group, and de + el becomes del: la mayor parte del trabajo.

Halves, fractions and percentages

For fractions, Spanish also uses de. La mitad needs its article, and the other fraction nouns take the determiner that their number requires (un tercio, dos tercios):

• la mitad de los vecinos (half of the neighbours)
• un tercio del presupuesto (a third of the budget)
• dos tercios de los votos (two thirds of the votes)
• tres cuartas partes de la población (three quarters of the population)

Percentages work the same way: el 40 % de los clientes (40% of the customers). Note that la mitad is a noun, so it needs la and de. The adjective medio goes directly before a noun and is not followed by de: medio pastel, media hora.

Large and indefinite amounts: un sinfín, infinidad, miles

Spanish has several phrases for "a huge number of", and all of them link to the noun with de:

• un sinfín de problemas (an endless number of problems)
• infinidad de ejemplos (countless examples)
• una gran cantidad de dinero (a large amount of money)
• una serie de errores (a series of mistakes)
• un montón de gente (a lot of people, informal)

Round numbers used as nouns work in the same way: decenas de, cientos de, miles de, millones de, followed by a plural noun: miles de personas, cientos de libros. With a plain number, use no de for dos mil personas, but add it for un millón de personas and dos millones de personas, because millón is a noun.

Does the verb agree with the quantifier or with the noun?

With phrases such as la mayoría de, la mitad de and una gran cantidad de, the verb can agree with the quantifier (singular) or with the plural noun after de. Both are accepted:

• La mayoría de los estudiantes aprobó. / La mayoría de los estudiantes aprobaron.
• La mitad de los vecinos votó. / La mitad de los vecinos votaron.

The plural is common when the noun follows and is close to the verb. With no noun after the quantifier, the singular is more usual: La mayoría llegó tarde. With a singular noun after de, the verb is singular: La mitad del pastel está en la mesa. With miles de, cientos de and un sinfín de, the verb is usually plural: Miles de personas protestaron.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Hay miles personas en la plaza. → ✅ Hay miles de personas en la plaza. (miles is a noun, so it needs de before the thing counted.)
• ❌ La mitad de el pastel. → ✅ La mitad del pastel. (de + el always contracts to del.)
• ❌ Medio de los alumnos suspendió. → ✅ La mitad de los alumnos suspendió. (medio is an adjective, and for "half of" with a noun group you need la mitad de.)
• ❌ Un millón personas. → ✅ Un millón de personas. (millón is a noun and needs de.)

Quick check

1. Complete: ___ (most) los estudiantes de mi clase viven cerca.
2. Complete: Hay cientos ___ libros en la biblioteca.
3. Say "half of the cake" in Spanish.
4. Is La mayoría de los turistas visitaron el museo correct, and what other verb form is possible?
5. Which is correct: dos mil de personas or dos mil personas?

Key takeaways

• Complex quantifiers link to the counted noun with de: la mayoría de, la mitad de, un sinfín de, miles de.
• After de, the article appears for a specific group, and de + el becomes del.
• La mayoría de is the usual choice with plural groups, and la mayor parte de is often preferred with singular or uncountable nouns.
• La mitad is a noun (la mitad de), while medio is an adjective used directly before a noun.
• The verb can agree with the quantifier (singular) or with the plural noun, and with miles de and un sinfín de the plural is usual.