I assume your collection of sets is countable (and that this is what you mean by "arbtirary"); that is, you have one set for each natural number (or perhaps only up to a certain bound), $E_1$, $E_2$, $E_3$, $E_4,\ldots$.
$\limsup E_i$ consists of all elements in $\cup E_i$ that are in infinitely many of the $E_i$. $\liminf E_i$ consist of all elements in $E_i$ that are in all except perhaps for finitely many of the $E_i$.
If you imagine the $E_i$ lined up in front of you, then $\limsup E_i$ is the collection of all things which, no matter where you stand on the line, there will always be an instance of that thing behind you (I think of $E_{i+1}$ as "behind" $E_i$). On the other hand, $\liminf E_i$ consists of all thing which are in each position of the queue after a certain point.
In general, if you think of $\limsup E_i$ as a "sequence" of sets, namely the sets $F_k = \cup_{i=k}^{\infty} E_i$, which you are then intersecting, then the $F_k$ can be all different, or they can change as often as you want or as little as you want, even if all your sets are finite.
For an example where all the $F_i$ are different, take $E_i = \{i\}$. Then $F_k = \{k,k+1,\ldots\}$. Or you can tweak it to change every so often; $E_1 = \{1\}$, $E_2=\{1,2\}$, $E_3=\{1,3\}$, $E_4=\{4\}$, $E_5=\{4,5\}$, $E_6=\{4,6\},\ldots$. Then $F_k$ will be $\{r,r+1,r+2,\ldots\}$ if $3r+1\leq k\leq 3r+r$. You can make the changes happen at distinct intervals. Etc.
If all your sets are contained in a finite set $A$ with $n$ elements, then you can set the $F_i$ to be as many as $n+1$ distinct sets (notice that you will have $F_1\supseteq F_2\supseteq F_3\supseteq F_4\supseteq\cdots$, and it is easy to check that if they are all contained in a set with $n+1$ elements, then such a chain can have at most $n$ distinct elements in it, since every time you "change" sets you lose at least one element, and you can go from $n$ elements down to $0$ elements).
Symmetrically with the limit inferior. if you set $G_i = \mathop{\cap}_{i=1}^{\infty} E_i$, then you have $G_1\subseteq G_2\subseteq G_3\subseteq\cdots$; if all sets are contained in an infinite set $A$, then you can have the $G_i$ change at each step, every other step, or you can designate exactly where you want them to change and you can set it up so that they change exactly there. If your $E_i$ are all subsets of a finite set with $n$ elements, then there can be at most $n+1$ distinct $G_i$, for the same reason as there can be at most $n+1$ distinct $F$.
If you consider pairs $(a,b)$ with $a\leq b$, and you set $H_{a,b} = \cup_{k=1}^a\cap_{i=k}^{b} E_i$, then you have $H_{1,1}\supseteq H_{1,2}\supseteq H_{1,3}\supseteq\cdots$, $H_{2,2}\supseteq H_{2,3}\supseteq \cdots$ (and in general $H_{a,b}\supseteq H_{a,b+1}$ for all $a\leq b$, and $H_{a,b}\subseteq H_{a+1,b}$ for all $a\lt b$). You can have lots of distinct things, or they may be limited depending on where your sets $E_i$ are taken from.
The questions you pose are too vague to give anything but very general answers absent more information.
Added: Clearly, we are having an impasse of undertanding. Below you say that "quantify" to you means "break up and construct interesting stuff". I'll wager the reason people (me included) are so confused about your question is that nobody took that word to mean anything like that (I certainly did not). The dictionary gives two meanings: "to determine or express the quantity of", and the logic related one of "to limit the variables of a proposition by prefixing an operator such as for all or some". I took it to mean that you wanted to give it a kind of "quantity" or "size"; perhaps you are taking your queue from "quantum mechanics" when you use "quantify", but I don't think anybody understood you. I confess to still being rather mystified.