Classes are of eight at the maximum.
The images take thirty-six hours maximum.
The area would yield only 200 pounds of rice or less.
…12 hours a week or under.
expressing approximate amounts
2.269 Some of these expressions are used to show that a number is approximate and that the actual figure could be larger or smaller.
Here is a list of the expressions showing that a number is approximate:
about
approximately
around
odd
or so
or thereabouts
roughly
some
something like
2.270 You put about, approximately, around, roughly, some, and something like in front of a number.
About 85 students were there.
Every year we have approximately 40 pupils who take mathematics.
It would cost around 35 million pounds.
A loft conversion costs roughly £12,000.
They have to pay America some $683,000 this year.
Harrington has cheated us out of something like thirty thousand quid over the past two years.
You put odd and or so after a number or amount, and or thereabouts after an amount.
…a hundred odd acres.
For half a minute or so, neither of them spoke.
Get the temperature to 30°C or thereabouts.
2.271 You show a range of numbers using between and and, or from and to, or just to.
Most of the farms around here are between four and five hundred years old.
My hospital groups contain from ten to twenty patients.
…peasants owning two to five acres of land.
Note the use of anything before between and from, to emphasize how great the range is.
An average rate of anything between 25 and 60 per cent is usual.
It is a job that takes anything from two to five weeks.
Expanding the noun phrase
2.272 This section deals with structures that are used to add further information about the person or thing referred to. These are called qualifiers. The word that is qualified is usually a noun but can be an indefinite pronoun or those.
possible structures
2.273 The structures that are dealt with in this section are
…a girl with red hair.
…the man in the dark glasses.
The use of prepositional phrases to expand the noun phrase is explained in paragraphs 2.275 to 2.290.
…machinery capable of clearing rubble off the main roads.
…the type of comments likely to provoke criticism.
…a concept inconceivable a hundred years earlier.
The use of adjectives followed by phrases or clauses to expand the noun phrase is explained in paragraphs 2.291 to 2.292.
…a simple device to test lung function.
…two of the problems mentioned above.
He gestured towards the three cards lying on the table.
The use of non-finite clauses to expand the noun phrase is explained in paragraphs 2.293 to 2.301.
2.274 Some other structures are also used. These are explained fully in other sections. They include
Shortly after the shooting, the man who had done it was arrested.
Where’s that cake your mother made?
Relative clauses are explained in paragraphs 8.83 to 8.116.
…down in the dungeon beneath.
…a reflection of life today in England.
Time adverbials are explained in Chapter 4 and adverbs of place are explained in paragraphs 6.53 to 6.72.
Nouns with prepositional phrases
2.275 In general, any prepositional phrase that describes or classifies something can be used directly after a noun or pronoun.
…the man in charge.
…a film about four men on holiday.
She reached into the room behind her.
2.276 In particular, there are several kinds of prepositional phrase that are usually only used in this way. Of these, prepositional phrases beginning with of are the most numerous. Others include certain uses of with, in and by.
of
2.277 Many nouns referring to things and actions can be expanded by using prepositional phrases beginning with of after them. This allows the noun to be expanded with a wide range of meanings. You can use of with nouns referring to feelings such as love and fear to show what the feeling relates to; for example, fear of flying and love of animals. Further meanings are described in the following paragraphs.
2.278 Personal pronouns are not usually placed after of. For example, you cannot say Joyce was the daughter of him or the pages of it. Possessive determiners are used instead to show possession. These are explained in paragraphs 1.194 to 1.210.
2.279 Prepositional phrases beginning with of can be used to show what something consists of.
…a letter of confirmation.
…strong feelings of jealousy.
They can also be used to show what the subject matter of something is.
…a picture of a house.
…Gretchen’s account of her interview with Nichols.
…the idea of death.