TOEFL GRAMMAR:"Most of people" or "Most people" ??

[rcmv]

Erin, could you please help with this one from your "Printable Toefl Exercises"???

5. Most of American high school students claim they know how to read, yet many of them can not do so at a high enough level to participate in modern society.

Thanks,

RCMV

[Erin]

This one's tricky! It almost sounds correct, but it's hard to explain why, don't you think?

Anyway, we have the same problem here as we have in this sentence:

Most of people in the U.S. have a telephone.

This sentence should read:

Most of all people in the U.S. have a telephone.

Why?

We have a rule in English that says we need to use a determiner in this position. Here's the rule:

quantifier + of + determiner + noun

OR

quantifier + of + pronoun

If any of these terms are confusing, go to my grammar index to learn more:

http://www.TestMagic.com/Knowledge_B...mmar/index.htm

[keepsmiling]

according to me , I think :
almost all (of the)
most (of the)

[feiren]

i see

[aivoges]

So Erin, is it similar for "all". Should I say: "All of the people" or "All of people". I am a little confused

Thanks

[nirvanas]

Erin, you have mentioned that the 'Most of all people' is correct because its of the form quantifier + of + determiner + noun. But "all" is not a determiner. So how is this form correct?
"all" is a quantifier.
To Aivoges question, I think the first one is correct gramatically (although I have never seen its usage) because its of the form "quantifier (all) + of + determiner (the) + noun. What do you think of this Erin?

[mayaly]

hello everybody! I must confess that I haven't seen that expression - most of the people. or at least I haven't paid any attention on it.

[mayaly]

i think that "most people" is good,but "all of the people" sounds strange for me. What do you think

[Wacika]

Hi Mayaly,
I think 'all of the people'sounds alright to me,
what about 'all of the members'?
Erin, can U tell explain it to us plz?
Thanks

[meteor]

We have:
Most people...
Most of all people...
Most of people ...
Almost all people...

Are they all true, is there any other structures with almost or most?
Thanks a lot.