"Much", "many", and "a lot of" indicate a large quantity of something, for example "I have a lot of friends " means I have a large quantity of friends.
Much, many, and a lot are quantifiers.
Study the examples below:
How much money have you got? I haven't got much money. I have got a lot. I have got a lot of money. How many students are in the classroom? There aren't many. There are a lot. There are a lot of/lots of students. In the interrogative forms we use:
In the negative forms we use:
In the affirmative forms:
In spoken English and informal writing we tend to use:
- a lot, a lot of, lots of with countable and uncountable nouns.
Example:
"How many students are there in the classroom?"
"There are a lot."
"How many students are there in the classroom?"
"There are a lot of / lots of students"..In formal written English:
- It is also possible (and preferable) to use many and much rather than a lot of, lots of and a lot in formal written English.
Example:
There are many students.
Much time was spent on studying.So if you're speaking or writing to friends (informal), use a lot, a lot of, lots of. But if you want to be more formal, perhaps it is preferable to use much and many.
In affirmative sentences with so, as or too, we also use much / many.
Examples:
"Carla has so many friends."
"She has as many friends as Sue."
"Kevin has too much money."
Interrogative | Negative | Affirmative |
---|---|---|
How many books are there? |
There aren't many. |
There are a lot. |
There are a lot of books. | ||
There are lots of books. | ||
There are many books (formal) | ||
How much money have you got? |
I haven't got much. |
I've got a lot. |
I've got a lot of money. | ||
I've got lots of money. | ||
I have got much money (formal) |