Ls 8. Many & Much
Lesson 8. Many & Much
Many is used with count nouns:
- How many apples are there?
- There are many apples in this picture
- How many chairs are there?
- There are two chairs
- How many bees are there?
- Hundreds. Maybe thousands!
- How many apples are there in this picture?
- There is only one apple
- How many men are there in this picture? - There aren't any. There is only one woman Much is sued with non-count nouns:
- How much fruit is there?
- There's a lot of fruit
- How much water is in the glass?
- It's almost full. There's a lot of water in the glass
- How much traffic is there this morning?
- There's a lot of traffic. The cars aren't moving very fast.
- How much fishing does he do?
- He does a lot of fishing on the weekend
- How much beer is there in his glass?
- There isn't any. It's all gone.
| Count Nouns | Non-count Nouns | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular or Plural | (Don't use in plural form) | |
| car | cars | traffic |
| apple | apples | fruit |
| machine | machines | machinery |
| fact | facts | information |
| chair | chairs | furniture |
| dollar | dollars | money |
| minute | minutes | time |
| (only use an article with these: a or the) | (these plural count nouns use "many") | (these use "much") |
It's important to understand the difference between non-count and count nouns when using many and much. Non-count nouns are often used to describe large categories while count nouns are usually more specific.
Examples:
- There is a car in the street.
- How many cars are in the street?
- There are a few cars in the street (plural count noun)
- How much traffic is there? - There is a lot of traffic (non-count noun)
Non-count nouns always use a singular verb. Count nouns are singular or plural Much and Many are usually used with the negative Examples: - There aren't many students in the classroom. (perhaps 4 or 5 students)
- There isn't much food in the refrigerator. (a small amount of food) Any + not, never, or without expresses zero: Examples:
- There aren't any students in the classroom (zero)
- There isn't any food in the refrigerator. It's empty
- He went outside without any shoes. (There are no shoes on his feet)
- They never want to eat any vegetables or drink any milk Much and Many are usually not used in the affirmative: Examples:
- There are many apples in the basket. It sounds better to say...
- There are a lot of apples in the basket
- There is much milk in the refrigerator. It sounds better to say...
- There is a lot of milk in the refrigerator