much and many they are quantifiers (quantifiers). much means a lot or a lot and many means many or many.
Quantifiers are words used to refer to the quantity of something.
So we know when to use many and much, we need to check that the noun the quantifier refers to is countable (countable) or uncountable (countless). This because many is used with accountants and much, with countless.
Not everything that is countable in the Portuguese language is countable in the English language. Therefore, be careful to know when to use many or much.
Countable and uncountable nouns
One countable noun (countable noun) has a singular and a plural form, already a uncountable noun (uncountable noun) has only the singular form.
The word "information", for example, is countable in Portuguese and uncountable in English.
We can say in Portuguese “I need two pieces of information”, but to express the same idea in English, we must say “I need two pieces of information.”
Whenever we want to express a certain amount of a word that is countless in English, it needs to be accompanied by some complement (in the case of
information, we use piece of).Look at the image below and see which complement is used with each noun.
- The bottle of milk. (A bottle of milk.)
- The glass of water. (A glass of water.)
- A jug of water. (A pitcher of water.)
- A cup of tea. (A cup of tea.)
- A packet of tea. (A packet of tea.)
- A jar of honey. (A jar of honey.)
- A loaf of bread. (A bread.)
- A slice of bread. (A slice of bread.)
- A carton of milk. (A carton of milk.)
- A can of Coke. (A can of Coke.)
- The bottle of Coke. (A bottle of Coke.)
- A bowl of sugar. (A sugar bowl.)
- A kilo of meat. (A kilo of meat.)
- A bar of soap. (A soap.)
- A bar of chocolate. (A chocolate bar.)
- A piece of chocolate. (A piece of chocolate.)
- A piece of cheese. (A piece of cheese.)
- A piece of furniture. (One piece of furniture.)
Read too:
- Food in English (food)
- Countable and Uncountable Nouns
- Few and little
when to use many and much
Check out the explanation below, know when to use many and much and understand the difference between the two ways.
Use of many
The word many is used with nouns countables and it means a lot, a lot, a lot or a lot.
Examples:
- They bought many bottles of soft drink for the party. (They bought a lot of soda bottles for the party.)
- There are many kids playing in the yard. (There are many children playing in the garden.)
- Many students prefer to study in the afternoon. (Many students prefer to study in the morning.)
IMPORTANT: the noun used after the word many it must always be inflected in the plural.
how many
To ask the quantity of something countable, we must use the expression how many, which means how many, how many.
Examples:
- How many days did you spend in L.A.? (How many days did you spend in LA?)
- How many times a year do you go to Brazil? (How many times a year do you go to Brazil?)
- How many people will you invite to the party? (How many people will you invite to the party?)
Use of much
The word much is used with nouns countless and it means a lot or a lot.
Examples:
- She put much water in the jar. (She poured a lot of water into the pitcher.)
- He drinks a lot of coffee when he's working. (He drinks a lot of coffee when he's working.)
- I don’t have much money. (I do not have much money.)
IMPORTANT: the noun used after the word much it must always be singular.
how much
To ask the amount of something countless, we must use the expression how much, which means how much, how much.
Examples:
- How much time do we need to get there? (How long do we need to get there?)
- How much sugar do we have? (How much sugar do we have?)
- How much milk should we drink a day? (How much milk should we drink a day?)
NOTE: the expression how much it also means how much it costs.
Examples:
- How much is it? (How much?)
- How much does a trip to the Caribbean cost? (How much does a trip to the Caribbean cost?)
Tip
If you have questions about using many and much, you can choose to use a lot of (very, many, many, many).
The expression a lot of it can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Examples:
- She drinks a lot of coffee every morning. (She drinks a lot of coffee every morning.)
- They have a lot of friends. (They have a lot of friends.)
Video
Watch the video below with a summary of how to use many,much and a lot.
Exercises
1. (FMU-SP) Complete the sentence:
There were too ____ people in the room
a) much
b) little
c) a little
d) many
Correct alternative: d) many
2. (UFPR) Which of the expressions is used correctly?
a) People spend many time visiting one another
b) Many money is spent during holidays
c) Much Brazilian children go to Disney World
d) Many people travel during their vacations
e) Much special fruit and vegetables are prepared during thanksgiving
Correct alternative: d) Many people travel during their vacations
3. (UTP) Fill in the blanks correctly:
How ________ do you want to go to law school?
a) None of the alternatives
b) much
c) none
d) many
e) a lot of
Correct alternative: d) many