Much - Many

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 1

Much / many

The words much and many mean a lot of.


If a noun is in singular, we use much
Example:
much money
If a noun is in plural, we use many
Example:
many friends

Use of much / many


In everyday English, we normally use much / many only in questions and negative clauses.
Example:
How much money have you got?
Carla does not have many friends.
In positive clauses with so, as or too, we also use much / many.
Example:
Carla has so many friends.
She has as many friends as Sue.
Kevin has too much money.
In all other positive clauses, however, we prefer expressions like a lot of / lots of.
Example:
Carla has a lot of / lots of friends.
Kevin has a lot of / lots of money.
In formal texts, however, much / many are also common in positive clauses. This you will notice for
example when you read English news.

Countable / Uncountable Nouns


In connection with much / many people often speak of countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a
number (that's why they are called 'countable nouns'). Countable nouns take many.
Example:
100 friends many friends
Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number (that's
why they are called 'uncountable nouns'). Uncountable nouns take much.
Example:
100 money much money
Note: Of course you can count money but then you would name the currency and say that you
have got 5 euro (but not 5 money).

You might also like