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

They are not interchangeable: in some cases you will only need much, and in others only many. Here everything 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 used in cases where 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 - a lot of people
• many tigers - many tigers

we use many(since they can be counted)

Pronoun Much 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)

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

Let's look at the table that will clearly show you the difference in using Much, Many

Many used where objects 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 it?
• 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 (the noun money is uncountable).
  He earns little (= little) money.
• Not many people have heard of her (people noun - 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 many...?.

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 didn’t understand anything.
3. He asked the waiter to bring some water.
4. In autumn, many birds fly south.
5. She doesn't like it when there is too much sugar in her tea.
6. “There is absolutely no space 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 theaters? (How many theaters?)
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, give us a like, we tried!

How not to get confused when using much and many? Just pay attention to the rules of use, because it was 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. Here 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 use much and many. We must remember once and for all that many is “friendly” only with countable nouns, and much- with uncountables.

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 indicate that they are best avoided in positive sentences. That is much And many V English language 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 + countable 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. – Many 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 approval a lot of. By the way, you can use it in absolutely any context. Even if you suddenly doubt what is suitable for this proposal, a lot of will always help out, since it can be used for both countable and uncountable nouns.

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 mistakes in my 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 These apply specifically to nouns; you cannot use these words with verbs. But what to do when it is important to “strengthen” the meaning of an action? Suitable here a lot(without pretext 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?

Using how much how many

Concerning uses 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 ones.

What is the difference between a lot of and lots of in English?

Here you can find out what the difference is between English phrases a lot of and lots of.

The main function of the phrases a lot of and lots of is to indicate a large number of someone or something. These phrases can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Both of them are translated as "many, large number".

Despite external differences, big difference in meaning there is no between them. Let's look at an example:

He's bought a lot of f lowers for her. = He’s bought lots of flowers for her. - He bought a lot of flowers for her.

It is believed that a lot of sounds a little more formal than lots of. The phrase lots of is better suited for informal settings. Although the difference is actually very small.

Some students wonder if it is possible to use a lot of and lots of in questions and negatives. Answer: of course, you can, but still a lot of and lots of it's more common to see in affirmative sentences. In questions and negatives, the words much/many are more often used.

This is a convention confirmed by some grammatical sources, but there will be no error if you use a lot of and lots of in all types of sentences, especially the construction of lots of. It is more common in colloquial speech and goes better with uncountable nouns.
Let's look at a few more examples:

I don’t have lots of patience to deal with her, do you? “I don’t have that much patience to mess with her, do you?”
Billy gave her lots of money to buy some new clothes. - Billy gave her a lot of money so she could buy new clothes.
Have you eaten lots of fruit? -Have you eaten a lot of fruit?
They didn't have a lot of choices indeed. - They really had little choice.

The form a lot can be used independently to mean "very, quite often". For example:
I attend the gym a lot. - I go to the gym quite often.
Do you like daffodils? A lot. - Do you like daffodils? Yes very.

In English there are several ways to say that there is a lot of something. Russian word“much” can be translated as plenty, much or many. There are also a lot of and lots of options. Let's figure out what the difference is between these words and learn how to use them correctly.

Much and many

The key difference is that much is used with uncountable nouns (sugar, tea, water, wood)

There's not much sugar in the sugar-bowl. Don't forget to buy it.
There is not much sugar in the sugar bowl. Don't forget to buy it.

And many - with countable ones (people, cups, children, trees).

here were many children at Disneyland.
There were a lot of children at Disneyland.

Be careful. There are uncountable nouns in English that are easily confused with countable nouns. If you are not sure about the “countability” of a word, do not be lazy to look in the dictionary.

It is very useful, when learning a new word, to look not only at its translation, but also at additional information: forms of the word, whether it is countable, examples of use

There are also exception words that are uncountable. I call them decoy words because they can easily be confused with countable words.

This includes:

advice (advice), money (money), news (news), travel (travel), furniture (furniture)

Lots of and A lot of

The use of these words does not depend on whether it is a countable noun or not.

Lots of water/a lot of water, lots of paper work/a lot of paper work, lots of pens/a lot of pens

It is worth noting that lots of is used only in informal English. Also, let's look at the difference in using these expressions in a sentence:

A lot of students visit their parents on Christmas holidays.
Many students visit their parents during the Christmas holidays.

Lots of snow falls during a storm.
A lot of snow falls during a storm.

In the first case, the verb refers directly to the noun, so it is put in the form plural. Please note that in the example there is no ending - s.

If an uncountable noun is used with the phrase Lots of, then we write the verb in the form singular third party.

Difference between much/many and lots of/a lot of

The main difference in usage is that we say much and many when asking about the quantity of something:

How many people were in the meeting? How many people were at the meeting?

How many people were in the meeting?

Also, do not forget about stable phrases:

1. too many / too much - too much;
2. as much as / as many as - as much as...;
3. so many / so much - so much.

It should be kept in mind that much and many sound formal. Lots of and a lot of are used in informal settings. We already wrote above that lots of is even more informal than a lot of.

By the way, in informal English such expressions as “a lot more”, “a lot fewer”, and “a lot less” are acceptable.

When to say plenty of

Like the previous two phrases, plenty of is used with both countable and uncountable nouns. The only difference is that it means “very much,” a huge amount of something.

We have looked at all the options: plenty, much or many. To remember, try to come up with phrases that will help you if you get confused somewhere. For example, my phrases are many people and much sugar. People is a countable noun, which means you also need to use many with other countable nouns. I have the same thoughts about too much sugar. The same association phrases can be thought of for each point above. This helps a lot at first.

In Russian we say: a lot of money, a lot of candy, a lot of effort, a lot of cars, etc. In all these phrases we use one word. In English there are words much, many and a lot, which are translated as “a lot”. But they are used differently.

Many

Pronunciation and translation:

Many [ˈmeni] / [meni] - a lot

Meaning of the word:
A large number of objects or people

Use:
We use many we can count. For example: many people, many trees, many books, many years.

Example:

Bill doesn't have many friends.
Bill doesn't have many friends.

Did he win many competitions?
Has he won many competitions?

Much

Pronunciation and translation:
Much [ˈmʌtʃ] / [mach] - a lot

Meaning of the word:
A large number of

Use:
We use much when we talk about something that we can't count. For example: a lot of water, a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of work.

Example:

You drink too much coffee.
You drink too much coffee.

She does not have much money.
She doesn't have a lot of money.

A lot

Pronunciation and translation:

A lot / [lot] - a lot

Meaning of the word:
A large number of

Use:
We use a lot with both what we can count and what we cannot count. A lot is a less formal word and is much more commonly used in spoken English. For example: a lot of friends, a lot of money, a lot of opportunities, a lot of candy.

Example:

We had a lot of furniture.
We had a lot of furniture

We waste a lot of time.
We waste a lot of time.

What is the difference?

We use many when we talk about something that we can count. For example: many houses, many birds, many telephones, many countries.

We use much when we talk about something we can't count. For example: a lot of freedom, a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of garbage.

Many and much are formal words. In spoken English they are used most often in questions and negative sentences. They also often used after the words too (too) and so (so). In written and formal speech, much and many can be used in all sentences (affirmative, negative, interrogative).

We use a lot and with the fact that we can count with what we cannot count. A lot is a less formal word and is much more commonly used in spoken English.

Reinforcement task

Paste Right words in the following sentences. Leave your answers in the comments.

1. Not many animals live in this forest.
2. She spends too much money.
3. He needs to read so many books over the weekend.
4. She invited many friends to the party.
5. They brought a lot of fruit.
6. He has so much work.
7. Do you have a lot of dresses?
8. She can eat a lot of sweets.