Quantifiers – Many/Much

By themselves, many and much can be tricky. But we see even more English language learners tripped up by trying to add words “so” or “too” to adjust the meaning, or by the uncountable vs countable nouns questions that can come with the use of many/much.

This lesson is designed to address all of those situations and more.

First, a quick overview of many/much:

Many – Used before plural, countable nouns. Used in positive sentences, negative sentences and questions.

Examples:

  • That house has many windows.
  • My car doesn’t have many air conditioning vents.
  • How many sugar cubes would you like in your tea?

Much – Used before uncountable nouns. Used mostly in negative sentences and questions.

Examples:

  • That house doesn’t have much character.
  • How much furniture does the apartment have currently?

Exceptions:

  • Plural countable nouns don’t ALWAYS end in “s” … people, feet, teeth, children, mice, etc.

Example: There were far too many mice running around in that exhibit for my liking.

  • When used by itself, “much” is not common in positive sentences in everyday conversation, but is possible. If used, it sounds formal.

Example: Much effort is being wasted in that department.

But when you add “so”, “too” or “more” to emphasize “much”, its commonly used in positive sentences in everyday English conversation.

Examples:

  • He has so much love for her.
  • The Lakers were just too much for the Bulls to handle.
  • There’s so much more to him than meets the eye.

NOTES:

  • In terms of word order, “so” and “too” are used BEFORE “much,” but “more” always follows after “much”.

Example:

The balcony at our new apartment has more much space than our old one.

The balcony at our new apartment has much more space than our old one.

  • You can add either “so” OR “too” in addition to adding “more” for extra emphasis but you can’t use both of “so” and “too” together.
    • So + much + more
    • Too + much + more
    • So + too + much
  • You can also use “too much” or “too many” without a noun if the implied noun is clear based on the context.

How much time does your son spend on computer games? Too much.

How many cookies did you get? Too many.

More Specific Situations/other ways we use many/much:

Many of/Much of

We add “of” after much/many when it is followed by articles (a/an/the), demonstratives (this, that), possessives (his, your), or pronouns (him, them):

Examples:

How much of this cake are we going to eat tonight?

Not many of the star players played in this game.

We don’t see much of him these days.

How many of their kids speak Turkish?

What is the difference between “a lot of/lots of” and “many/much?”

The main difference is that native English speakers use “a lot of/lots of” more commonly in informal, conversational English than “many/much.” That’s not to say many/much is solely for formal situations. Rather, to emphasize how popular “a lot of/lots of” has become in everyday English.

You can use either “a lot of” or “lots of” with both plural countable nouns and singular uncountable nouns, making them very useful phrases for non-native English speakers to learn and start using without great concern of using them wrong.

But, here is where it can get tricky: negative questions.

Asking a negative question using “many” and then asking the same question but substituting “a lot of” in place of “many” creates two different implications for the questions.

Compare: 

Haven’t they made many sales? > (No, they haven’t.) The question asker expects that they have made a small quantity of sales.

Haven’t they made a lot of sales? > (Yes, they have.) The speaker expects that they have made a large quantity of sales.

Practice Exercises:

Put a check next to only the sentences that are written the way a native English speaker would say them:

  • She gave me a lot of milk.
  • The waiter brought too many plates.
  • She gave me much information.
  • There weren’t a lot of people there.
  • The house doesn’t have many furnitures.
  • The car has too many miles on it.
  • The car has doesn’t have much mileage on it.
  • How many the movies from the Star Wars series are worth watching?
  • She spent much of the movie in the bathroom.

Quiz – Multiple Choice:

Welcome to your Quantifiers – Many/Much

We’ve got _____________ things to do.

Does he not have _________ time?

Circle the answer that is completely CORRECT.

Circle the answer that is completely CORRECT.

Circle the answer that is completely CORRECT.

Shadowing Exercise 1:

  • My car doesn’t have many air conditioning vents.
  • How many sugar cubes would you like in your tea?
  • That house doesn’t have much character.
  • How much furniture does the apartment have currently?
  • There were far too many mice running around in that exhibit for my liking.

 

Shadowing Exercise 2:

  • The Lakers were just too much for the Bulls to handle.
  • How much time does your son spend on computer games? … Too much.
  • How many cookies did you get? … Too many.
  • How much of this cake are we going to eat tonight?
  • Haven’t they made many sales? … No, they haven’t.