Much vs many: How and When to Use in English
Quick and simple lesson to help you understand grammar better.
Test your English and learn even more with Gymglish.
TEST YOUR ENGLISH
Free trial and no commitment to buy
4,7 on App Store, Play Store and Trustpilot
More than 8 million learners worldwide
Much vs many
Much and many suggest a large quantity: 'a lot of'.
Important:
• MUCH precedes uncountable nouns:
Important:
• MUCH precedes uncountable nouns:
I don't have much time, and you don't have much money. I don't have a lot of time, and you don't have a lot of money.
• MANY precedes countable nouns:
We have many friends, in many countries. We have a lot of friends, in a lot of countries.
This important distinction is found in the way of asking 'How much, how many' questions:
How much + uncountable noun / how many + countable noun:
How much + uncountable noun / how many + countable noun:
How much did you pay for the car? How much money did you pay?
How many children does Bob have?
How many women has Philip slept with?
Watch out for the following traps:
• people is a plural noun always preceded by many, and never by much:
• people is a plural noun always preceded by many, and never by much:
There are too many people.
• information, luggage (or baggage), and equipment are uncountable nouns and therefore are always singular:
How much luggage did you bring? or How many bags did you bring?
How much information do you want?
Other constructions:
I drank too much wine. I drank more wine than I should have done.
Do you play tennis as much as you play golf? Do you play tennis as often as you play golf?
This movie is much better than I thought it would be. This film is a lot better, significantly better than I expected.
There are as many Americans here as there are in California. There is the same number of Americans here as in California.
Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks below with the correct word: either much or many
Bruno Delavigne has things to do today. At 9:00 am, he has a board meeting with the executives of the company to discuss the changes which must be made to the budget proposal. After lunch, Delavigne and Susan Bliss will decide exactly how money will be spent on the advertising campaign for the company's newest perfume 'TigerLily'.
Bruno Delavigne has things to do today. At 9:00 am, he has a board meeting with the executives of the company to discuss the changes which must be made to the budget proposal. After lunch, Delavigne and Susan Bliss will decide exactly how money will be spent on the advertising campaign for the company's newest perfume 'TigerLily'.
Fill in the blanks below with the correct word: either much or many
Bruno Delavigne has many 1 things to do today. At 9:00 am, he has a board meeting with the executives of the company to discuss the many 2 changes which must be made to the budget proposal. After lunch, Delavigne and Susan Bliss will decide exactly how much 3 money will be spent on the advertising campaign for the company's newest perfume 'TigerLily'.
Bruno Delavigne has many 1 things to do today. At 9:00 am, he has a board meeting with the executives of the company to discuss the many 2 changes which must be made to the budget proposal. After lunch, Delavigne and Susan Bliss will decide exactly how much 3 money will be spent on the advertising campaign for the company's newest perfume 'TigerLily'.
1 many: We use 'many' to modify countable nouns, such as 'things', which is a general term which refers to all sorts of objects or ideas.
2 many: We use 'many' to modify countable nouns, such as 'changes'.
3 much: We use 'much' to describe uncountable nouns like 'money'.
Exercise 2
Icarus Quincy has reviewed the income tax forms for the company times this morning, but the figures still don't make sense to him. The numbers just don't add up. It seems like Icarus has another long afternoon of calculations ahead of him.
Icarus Quincy has reviewed the income tax forms for the company many 1 times this morning, but the figures still don't make much 2 sense to him. The numbers just don't add up. It seems like Icarus has another long afternoon of calculations ahead of him.
1 many: 'Many times' is the correct choice here. As a plural noun, 'times' is countable, so we must use 'many' to describe it.
1 much: 'Much' is only used to describe uncountable nouns. Because 'times' is countable, we cannot use 'much' in this case.
2 much: We use 'much' to describe uncountable nouns like 'sense'. The expression 'it doesn't make sense' means that something is illogical, or that it isn't well understood.
2 many: We only use 'many' to qualify countable nouns. Because 'sense' is an uncountable noun, we cannot use 'many' to describe it.
Exercise 3
Fill in the blanks below with the proper word: either much or many
Although he doesn't have very information on the subject, Bruno Delavigne has heard rumors that another company is plotting a hostile take-over of the Delavigne Corporation. Now that he is aware of the plan, however, Bruno has planning to do in order to save his company.
Although he doesn't have very information on the subject, Bruno Delavigne has heard rumors that another company is plotting a hostile take-over of the Delavigne Corporation. Now that he is aware of the plan, however, Bruno has planning to do in order to save his company.
Fill in the blanks below with the proper word: either much or many
Although he doesn't have very much 1 information on the subject, Bruno Delavigne has heard rumors that another company is plotting a hostile take-over of the Delavigne Corporation. Now that he is aware of the plan, however, Bruno has much 2 planning to do in order to save his company.
Although he doesn't have very much 1 information on the subject, Bruno Delavigne has heard rumors that another company is plotting a hostile take-over of the Delavigne Corporation. Now that he is aware of the plan, however, Bruno has much 2 planning to do in order to save his company.
1 much: We use 'much' to describe uncountable nouns like 'information'. Note that in English, 'information' is an uncountable noun, which never takes an 's' in its plural form.
2 much: We use 'much' to describe uncountable nouns like 'planning'.
Exercise 4
people think that it is not very important to vote. We often hear people say, 'One vote doesn't matter, it won't change anything'. If enough people think in this way, however, then voices will go unheard. Even if you don't have knowledge about all the candidates in an election, it is important to vote.
Many 1 people think that it is not very important to vote. We often hear people say, 'One vote doesn't matter, it won't change anything'. If enough people think in this way, however, then many 2 voices will go unheard. Even if you don't have much 3 knowledge about all the candidates in an election, it is important to vote.
1 Many: 'Many people' is the correct choice here. 'People' is a countable noun, so we must use 'many' to describe it.
1 Much: 'Much' is only used to describe uncountable nouns. Because 'people' is a countable noun, we cannot use 'much' in this case.
2 many: We use 'many' to modify countable nouns, such as 'voices'.
2 much: 'Much' is only used to describe uncountable nouns. Because 'voice' is a countable noun, we cannot use 'much' in this case.
3 much: We use 'much' to describe uncountable nouns like 'knowledge'. 'Knowledge' refers to information, intelligence or wisdom.
3 many: We only use 'many' to qualify countable nouns. Because 'knowledge' is an uncountable noun, we cannot use 'many' to describe it.
Exercise 5
Global warming is a concern to environmentalists. If the world continues to pollute at the rate which it is already polluting, it may not be long until the Earth becomes uninhabitable.
Global warming is a concern to many environmentalists. If the world continues to pollute at the rate which it is already polluting, it may not be long until the Earth becomes uninhabitable.
many: We use 'many' to modify countable nouns, such as 'environmentalists'.
much: 'Much' is only used to describe uncountable nouns. Because 'environmentalist' is a countable noun, we cannot use 'much' in this case.
a lot: 'A lot' would be correct 'if' 'of' preceded the noun 'environmentalists'.
Still facing difficulties with 'Much vs many'? Improve your English with Gymglish's English lessons - try our online English course for free now and receive a free level assessment!
What our users say:
Find out about other grammar rules. Improve your English further and test Gymglish, online English lessons.
Tips for learning 'Much vs many'? Share them with us!
