English rule most. Quantitative pronouns a lot of, much, many: rule, usage examples and exercises

How not to get confused using much and many? Just pay attention to the rules of use, because it is no coincidence that the British came up with two words with the same meaning. They are not interchangeable: in some cases you will only need much, and in others only many. It all depends on the word itself, to which it will refer. much or many. Let's figure out what's what!

Much and many. Rules of use

As you know, nouns are divided into countable (can be counted) and uncountable (cannot be counted), and it is on this that they depend rules for using much and many. It must be remembered once and for all that many"friends" only with countable nouns, and much- with uncountable.

Examples:

many children - many children

much water - a lot of water

But that's not all about much and many. The rules for using these words say that they are best avoided in positive sentences. That is much and many in English should be used in negatives and questions. There are exceptions when these words are part of the subject.

Examples:

Do you have many friends here? – Do you have many friends here? ( many + count noun).

I don't like much sugar in my tea. – I don’t like a lot of sugar in tea ( much + uncountable noun).

Many people speak English. – A lot of people speak English ( many is part of the subject– many people).

Rules for using many much a lot of

If you can’t do without “a lot” in your positive sentence, then pay attention to rules for using many\much\a lot of. It is believed that it is well suited for assertion a lot of. By the way, you can use it in absolutely any context. Even if you suddenly doubt what is suitable for this offer, a lot of will always help out, as it can be used for both countable nouns and uncountable ones.

Examples:

There are a lot of people in this room. - There are a lot of people in this room ( a lot of + countable noun).

I have a lot of work today. - I have a lot of work today ( a lot of + uncountable noun).

Do I have a lot of mistakes in the test? - Do I have a lot of errors in the test? ( interrogative sentence).

They don't have a lot of information. – They don’t have much information ( negative sentence).

Rules for using many\much\a lot of relate specifically to nouns, you cannot use these words with verbs. But what to do when it is important to "strengthen" the meaning of the action? Suitable here a lot(no preposition of).

Examples:

We see our parents a lot. – We see our parents a lot (meaning “we see each other often”)

Do you practice this language a lot? – Do you practice this language a lot?

How much how many

Concerning use how much how many, then here, too, everything depends on the noun that will follow this or that interrogative phrase. how much must be combined with uncountable nouns, and how many- with countable.

Hello friends! How not to get confused using much and many? Just pay attention to the rules of use, because it is no coincidence that the British came up with two words with the same meaning.

They are not interchangeable: in some cases you will only need much, and in others you will only need many. It all depends on the word itself, which will refer to much or many. Let's figure out what's what!

Difference between many and much

Pronoun many is used when it refers to objects (animate or inanimate) that can be counted. Words denoting such things are called countable nouns.

• many children - many children
• many people - many people
• many tigers - many tigers

use many(because they can be counted)

Pronoun Much is used only with nouns that cannot be counted, that is, with uncountable nouns.

• much sugar (a lot of sugar)
• much water (a lot of water)
• much money (a lot of money)

use much(since they cannot be counted. Much means a large number of something.)

We look at the table, which will clearly show you the difference between the use of Much, Many

Many used where items can be counted individually.
If they cannot be counted, feel free to insert the word into the sentence much.

Interrogative sentences

• How much sugar do you take in your coffee?
  How much sugar do you put in your coffee?
• How much money do you want for this?
  How much (money) do you want for this?
• Do you have much work to do?
  Do you have a lot of work?
• How many students are there in each class?
  How many students are in each class?
• How many people are you expecting?
  How many people are you expecting?

Negative sentences

• He doesn’t earn much money (noun money is uncountable).
  He earns little (= little) money.
• Not many people have heard of her (noun people - countable).
  Few have heard of her.
• Barbara doesn't have many friends.
  Barbara has few (= not many) friends.

MUCH or MANY or A LOT OF?

Exercises on the topic much / many:

Exercise 1. Use much or many to express how much...?.

1. How … days?
2. How… sugar?
3. How… cigarettes?
4. How … work?
5. How … petrol?
6. How …children?
7. How … theaters?
8. How…juice?

Exercise 2. Translate the sentences into English using much, many, a little, a few, little, few, a lot of

1. I don't have many friends in this part of town.
2. The teacher said so many words, but I did not understand anything.
3. He asked the waiter to bring some water.
4. In autumn, many birds fly south.
5. She doesn't like having too much sugar in her tea.
6. “There is absolutely no room in the closet! You have so many clothes!”

Exercise 3 Use much or many.

Do you drink _______coffee? I like reading. I read _________ books. We have _______ lessons of English this year. I can't remember _______ from this text. Do you learn _______ new English words every day? We haven't got _______ bread. I can't spend ________ money on toys.

Answers

Exercise 1.

1. how many days? (How many days?)
2. How much sugar? (How much sugar?)
3. how many cigarettes? (How many cigarettes?)
4. How much work? (how much work?)
5. How much petrol? (How much gasoline?)
6. How many children? (How many children?)
7. How many theatres? (How many theatres?)
8. How much juice? (How much juice?)

Exercise 2.

1. I have few friends in this part of the city.
2. A teacher said so many words but I understood nothing.
3. He asked a waiter to bring a little water.
4. In autumn many birds fly to the south.
5. She doesn't like it when there is too much sugar in tea.
6. “There is no place in a wardrobe! You've got so many clothes!”

Exercise 3

Do you drink much coffee? I like reading. I read many books. We have many lessons of English this year. I can't remember much from this text. Do you learn many new English words every day? We haven't got much bread. I can't spend much money on toys.

Friends like, we tried!

I haven't got much time.
I don't know many of your friends.

□ Sometimes much can be used before countable nouns in the singular:

There's not much point in going on.

□ Many can be used after other determiners (the, my, its, his, her, etc.):

Among the many unknowns after the earthquake is the extent of damage to the foundations of buildings.
The gallery is exhibiting some of his many famous paintings of ships.

2. Much and many can be used as pronouns (if the meaning is clear):

You haven't eaten much.
Did you find any mushrooms? - Not many.

As a rule, this sounds quite formal:

There is no guarantee of a full recovery. Much depends on how well she responds to treatment.
The government's policies have done much to reduce unemployment.
Many (= many people) have argued that she is the finest poet of our generation.
Not once did I see a tiger in the jungle, although I heard many.

Before other determiners (the, my, this, etc.) or pronouns, use much/many of:

You can't see much of a country in a week.
how much of the house do you want to paint this year?
I won "t pass the exam: I" ve missed too many of my lessons.
How many of you are there?

There "s not much meat left. (not ' There's not much of meat left’.)
Many shops open on Sunday mornings. (not ' many shops’)

Of after much/many usually not used if there is no other determiner (article or personal):

She didn't eat much breakfast. (not ' ... much of breakfast’.)
There aren "t many large glasses left. (not ' ...many of large glasses left’.)

But much of used before names and geographical names:

I "ve seen too much of Haward recently.
Not much of Denmark is hilly.

□ Sometimes this usage is possible:

He "s not much of a success / gentleman.

3. In colloquial speech much and many, as a rule, are used only in interrogative and negative sentences. In affirmative sentences, they sound very formal (especially much) and instead of them other, equivalent in meaning, words and phrases are used:

He's got lots of men friends, but he doesn't know many women. (More natural than ' He's got many men friends...’)
Did you buy any clothes? .- Yes, lots. (not ' yes, many’)
How much money have you got? - I "ve got plenty. (not ' I've got much’.)

a) a lot of and lots of

These expressions are used mainly in colloquial speech and can be used with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns (the verb agrees in number with the noun, not with a lot of/lots of):

A lot of time is needed to learn a language.
Lots of patience is needed, too. (not ' Lots of patience are needed, too’.)
A lot of my friends want to emigrate. (not ' A lot of my friends wants...’)
Lots of us think it's time for an election.

There "s not a lot of meat left. (not ' There's not a lot of meat left’.)

b) plenty of means "enough" or "more than enough":

Don't rush. There's plenty of time.
Plenty of shops take checks.
There's no need to worry. We've got plenty of money.
Have some more coffee. - No, thank you. I"ve had plenty.

We took lots of food and drink on our walk through the hills/ ...plenty of...
Jim doesn "t look well. He" s lost a lot of weight (not " plenty of")
Plenty of shops open on Sunday mornings. (not ' Plenty shops’)

4. In a more formal style, they are used

a) much and many:

We have much (work) to do/many obstacles to overcome before we can claim that real progress has been achieved.
Much has been written about unemployment.
In the opinion of many economists, ...
Much debate has been heard about Thornton's new book.
There could be many explanations for this.
Much of her fiction describes women in unhappy marriages.

b) a great/good deal of, a large/considerable/substantial amount of and a large/considerable/great/substantial number of

These expressions sound somewhat more formal than a lot of and lots of:

A great/good deal of and a large amount of used with uncountable nouns:

Mr. Lucas has spent a great deal of time in the Far East.
A good deal of the exhibition was dedicated to her recent work.
I "ve thrown out a large amount of old clothing.
A large amount of the food was inedible/ Much of...

A large number of used with plural nouns:

A large number of problems still have to be solved. (more natural than
‘A large amount of problems ...’ / ‘A great deal of problems ...’)
The book contains a large number of pictures, many in colour/ ...many...

c) turnover many a with a singular noun:

The manager must have spent many a sleepless night worrying about his team selection.
Many a pupil at the school will be pleased that Latin is no longer compulsory.

d) turns a good/great many:

She has a good/great many friends in New Zealand.

e) turns far too many / far too much(meaning "too much")

Far too many students failed the end-of-year math exam.
Far too much time is wasted filling in forms.

□ Expressions with of usually not used before words like pounds, or miles:

It cost several pounds. (not ' It cost a lot of pounds’.)
They lived miles from the town. (not ' They lived plenty of miles from
the town’.)

□ Usually many(but not a lot of/lots) are used with words denoting time (days, minutes, months, weeks, years) and with numbers + of(for example: thousands of voters, millions of pounds):

We used to spend many hours driving to Melbourne and back.
He was the founder of a company now worth many millions of pounds.

□ Expressions with of can be used as pronouns if the meaning is clear:

How much did it cost? - A lot. (= A lot of money.)
We should be all right for cheese - I "ve bought plenty.
He does not often speak, but when he does he says a great deal.

□ A lot and a great deal can be used as adverbs:

On holiday we walk and swim a lot.
The government seems to change its mind a great deal.

□ Expressions so much/many, as much/many and too much/many sound quite natural in colloquial speech in affirmative sentences:

There was so much traffic that it took me an hour to get home.
I play as much tennis as I can.
You make too many mistakes.
She won't drink this coffee. There's too much sugar in it.
There was so much sugar in the coffee that she could "t drink it.

□ Much used as an adverb in questions and negative sentences:

Do you work much at weekends? I don't travel much these days.
She's much older than her brother.
I don't drive much faster than you.

□ Much in formal style can be used before some verbs (expressing satisfaction and preference) in affirmative sentences:

I appreciate your help.
We much prefer the country to the town.
I didn't much enjoy the concert.

very much used as an adverb (usually not placed before a noun):

I very much like your new hairstyle.
Thank you very much.
There "s a whole lot of water coming under the door. (before noun) (not ‘ There's very much water coming ...’)

Much and many have degrees of comparison (and the same):

George did more work/exercise than anyone else.
So he did the most work/exercises

1.80
MORE

1. More used as a comparative degree much and many:

We need more time (not ‘ ...more of time’.)
More university students are having to borrow money these days.

2. If the meaning is clear, more

I'd like some more, please.

more of:

Three more of the missing climbers have been found.
Could I have some more of that smoked fish?
I don't think any more of them want to come.

And more of

It would be nice to see more of Ray and Barbara.
Five hundred years ago, much more of Britain was covered with trees.

3. Turnovers are used one more/two more... etc..

There's just one more river to cross.

4. More is used (according to the relevant rules) to form the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs):

As you get older you get more tolerant.
Please drive more slowly.

5. More can be used as an adverb:

I couldn't agree more.
I hate this job more and more as the years go by.

1.81
MOST

1. The most used as a superlative much and many:

Susan found the most blackberries (more than others).
The most work is often done by the quietest worker.

In colloquial speech the sometimes omitted:

Who earns (the) most money in your family?

2. Most(in this meaning without the article) means "the majority":

Most children like ice cream. (not ' The most children...’)
Most cheese is made from cow's milk.
Most Swiss people understand French. (not ' Most of Swiss people...’)
Most people want a peaceful life.

Most of used before names and geographical names:

In this meaning most no longer a superlative much/many, but actually an independent determinant.

□ The majority of(=most / most of) is usually used with the plural:

The majority of criminals are non-violent.

3. If the meaning is clear, most can be used as a pronoun:

Some people had difficulty with the lecture, but most understood.

Before other determiners (a, the, my, this, etc.) and pronouns, we use most of:

Most of the people here know each other.
Most of my friends live abroad. (not ' most my friends...’)
Most of us thought he was wrong.
He's eaten two pizzas and most of a cold chicken.

4. (The) most used (according to the relevant rules) to form the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs:

I wasn't as clever as the others, but I was the most beautiful.
I work most efficiently in the early morning.

5. (The) most can be used as an adverb (the article is often omitted in colloquial speech):

They all talk a lot, but your little girl talks (the) most.
The truth hurts most.

Like an adverb most can mean "very" in formal style:

That is the most kind of you.
Thank you for a most interesting afternoon.
The experience was most distressing.

□ Mostly means "in most but not all cases"

Your little girl talks the most. (not ' ...talks mostly’.)
She mostly talks about her friends.

All the words in question are translated in the same way: " a lot of" and are used with nouns. But how do you know which word to use? Many or much? Or a lot of?

We learned from school textbooks that the words many and much are used always and everywhere, regardless of the type of sentence. Therefore, after several years of studying English, for many, the fact that English words many and much are used mainly in interrogative and negative proposals, and statements it is preferable to use a lot (of) , which will be discussed a little later.

Dealing with the use of words many and much, it's time to remember about countable and uncountable nouns. To countable items that can be counted. I draw your attention to what cannot be measured, namely count and name their exact number. Category uncountable belong to nouns denoting something that cannot be counted, but can only be measured. You can learn more about the two categories of nouns.

The choice of the word many or much directly depends on which noun is used with it. If countable, many is used, and if uncountable, then much :

Many houses - many houses
many words - many words
many shirts - many shirts
much information - a lot of information
much clothes - a lot of clothes
much attention - a lot of attention

As mentioned above, many and much are used in questions and negations. Let's start with questions. In questions, many and much are combined with the question word how:

How many- how many (if asking about countable nouns)
how much- how many (if asking about uncountable nouns)

How many lessons did you have yesterday? How many lessons did you have yesterday?
How many cups of tea do you drink? - How many cups of tea do you drink?
How much money did you spend yesterday? How much money did you spend yesterday?
How much tea do you drink? - How much tea do you drink?

These questions can be answered specifically by naming the quantity, or you can answer: "Not a lot": not many or not much. And if you want to answer that there is a lot, then you need to use a lot:

How many cups of tea do you drink? — A lot.
How much tea do you drink? — A lot.

A lot (of) is usually used in affirmative offers. This quantifier can be combined with both countable and uncountable nouns, which makes our task much easier. However, don't forget the preposition of if it's followed by a noun:

A lot (of) has equivalents. These are lots of and plenty of . They denote a large number and can be used in the same way as a lot of , whether it is a countable noun or not:

Lots of and plenty of are used without an article and correspond in meaning to a lot of. The only difference between these qualifiers is that a lot of and lots of are more colloquial, while plenty of emphasizes sufficiency:

I "ve got plenty of money. - I have a lot (enough) money.
We "ll have plenty of time. - We will have a lot (enough) time.

By the way, the question is often asked whether the verb are can be used in combination with a lot of, because are is the plural, and the article a stands for the singular. If you use a lot of with countable nouns, then the noun will be in the plural and, accordingly, the verb are will refer to it, and not to a lot of:

When a lot of is used with uncountable nouns, this question does not arise, since is is used with uncountable nouns:

Let's go back to the words many and much, which are also used in negations. If the sentence contains a negative particle not or another word with a negative meaning, then it is better to use many and much, and not a lot of:

He doesn't have many friends. - He doesn't have many friends.
I never eat much in the evening. I never eat much in the evenings.
They hardly ever spend much money. They rarely spend a lot of money.
I did not see many sights because I did not have much time. I didn't see many sights as I didn't have much time.

To sum up today's lesson: in affirmative sentences you should use a lot of (or its equivalents) to mean "a lot", and in negative and interrogative sentences, you need to choose between many and much, depending on which noun they refer to: countable or uncountable.

In this article, we looked at the main uses of the words many and much, in fact, there are many more, including various nuances and exceptions. But this topic deserves a separate and detailed explanation, so we will talk about this in one of our next articles.

Adverbs Much and Many are used mainly in interrogative and negative sentences in the sense of " a lot of". There are also synonyms for these adverbs - a lot of, lots of, a great deal of, large amounts of, etc., depending on the context.

Interrogative sentences

How much (how much = how much) ... + uncountable nouns

For example:
how much sugar do you take in your coffee?
How do you put sugar in your coffee?

how much money do you want for this?
How(money) do you want it?

Do you have much work to do?
At your place a lot of work?

How many (how many = how many) ... + countable nouns

For example:
how many students are there in each class?
How students in each class?

how many people are you expecting?
How man are you expecting?

Negative sentences

In negative construction sentences Not Much and Not Many usually translated as " few", "a little".

For example:
He doesn't earn much money( noun money- uncountable).
He earns few (= a little) of money.

Not many people have heard of her noun people- countable).
Few heard about her.

Barbara doesn't have many friends.
Barbara few (= a little) friends.