Hello everyone, this is Andrew at Crown Academy of English.
Today we are doing a grammar lesson about when to use the word "much" and "many."
So we will look at the most common situations of when we use these two words. Not every situation but the most common situations. Alright? So let us start.
So let us look at some questions about quantity.
How many apples are there?
How many eggs are there?
And how many bananas are there?
So, the first thing we can say is that all of these nouns are countable nouns.
A countable noun is a noun that is a separate object that we can count.
And it can only exist in the singular or plural. Okay, so it can exist in both. Singular or the plural. Okay?
So if we want to ask a question about quantity using countable nouns, then we use the expression "how many?" Ok?
And the noun must go in the plural form. And also the verb goes in the plural form.
So here we have the noun in the plural with an "s" (apples) and the verb. - This is the verb "to be" and it is the third person plural. Ok?
And it is the same here. We have the noun in the plural.
We use the expression "how many?" and the verb is in the plural form: "How many eggs are there?"
And the same here: "How many bananas are there?"
So the rule is - When we use "many", we use "many" in questions about quantity. And it is with countable nouns in the plural. Alright?
So we use the expression "how many" with countable nouns in the plural with the verb in the plural as well.
And these are all questions.
Let's look at some more questions about quantity:
How much milk is there?
How much cheese is there?
and how much sugar is there?
Now this time, all of these nouns are uncountable nouns.
So we cannot count uncountable nouns. They are not separate objects and they are always in the singular.
Notice, they are always in the singular: milk, cheese, sugar.
And so when we are using questions about quantity with uncountable nouns, then this time we use the expression "how much?"
Alright? We do not say "how many". We say "how much?"
And the noun, because it is an uncountable noun, the noun is always in the singular.
And the verb is always in the singular. So this is the verb "to be" and this is the third person singular of the verb "to be."
"How much milk is there?" And it is a question.
And it is the same here: "How much cheese is there?" - "cheese" is singular and the verb is singular.
And here is the same: "How much sugar is there?" We say "how much", "sugar" is in the singular and the verb is in the singular.
So the rule here is - We use "much" in questions about quantity with uncountable nouns. Alright? Uncountable nouns. So "much" for uncountable nouns.
Now let us describe a small quantity.
There aren't many carrots.
There aren't many pears.
And there aren't many strawberries.
So again, these are examples of countable nouns.
And if you look at each sentence, we can see that they are all negative sentences: "aren't" is the contracted form of "are not"
"are not", "There aren't many strawberries." So they are all negative sentences to describe a small quantity.
And we use the word "many" in these situations. So we use the word "many".
The noun is in the plural. So we put the countable noun in the plural form.
And the verb is in the plural form. This is the third person plural of the verb "to be". And it is obviously in the negative form.
And it is the same here: "There aren't many pears."
"There aren't many strawberries."
So the rule here is - We use "many" in negative sentences to describe a small quantity with countable nouns in the plural.
Alright? So that is the second ....(excuse me) .. that is the second situation where we use the word "many".
So negative sentences to describe a small quantity with countable nouns in the plural.
Now let's look at some more small quantities:
There isn't much pasta.
There isn't much rice.
and there isn't much wine.
So this time, they are all uncountable nouns. And obviously, as we said before, uncountable nouns are always in the singular.
And again, they are all negative sentences.
This is the contracted form of "is not" - "isn't", "isn't", "There isn't much wine." All negative sentences.
And so, when we are describing a small quantity of an uncountable noun in a negative sentence, then we use the word "much."
And since uncountable nouns are always in singular, then the verb is always in the singular: This is the third person singular of the verb "to be."
And it is the same here again: "There isn't much rice."
And the same here: "There isn't much wine."
And so the second situation of when we use the word "much" is:
We use "much" in negative sentences to describe a small quantity with uncountable nouns.
Alright? So that is the second situation.
Now this is slightly different. Now we want to describe a large quantity using a positive sentence.
And on the left, we have some oranges and here we have some chocolate.
So on the left, this is an example of a countable noun because we can say either "orange" or "oranges". We can count an orange.
But on the right, this is an example of an uncountable noun. This is chocolate.
So how do we describe a large quantity for a countable noun?
Well, this is how we say it: We say "There are a lot of oranges."
So this time, we do NOT use "much" or "many". We use an expression: "a lot of"
And for countable nouns, then the noun must go in the plural form with the letter "s"
And the verb as well. The verb is in the third person plural of the verb "to be"
So that is correct.
And that is wrong. Alright? So this is an exception. This is an example of a situation when we do NOT use the word "many." Okay?
It is not a big mistake. Okay? But in English, we never really say this. Okay?
It is slightly correct but it is better to use "a lot of". This is much more common in English to say "a lot of".
And for uncountable nouns, it is the same. We use the same expression "a lot of"
But since it is an uncountable noun, since uncountable nouns are only singular, (there is no "s" here), then the verb is singular too.
This is the third person singular of the verb "to be"
That is correct.
And that is wrong. So we do not use the word "much" when we are using a positive sentence to describe a large quantity.
So this is a mistake in English and we never really say it.
But here, this is much more common. This is how most English people would describe a large quantity.
So the rule here is that we do not use "many" or "much" in positive sentences to describe a large quantity.
We prefer to use the expression "a lot of" Ok?
An alternative to "a lot of" is "lots of". So "a lot of" or "lots of" is the same.
What is important to remember here is that we do not use "many" and we do not use "much". Ok?
So when we use "a lot of" with a countable noun, then do not forget the noun is in the plural with the verb in the plural.
And when we use "a lot of" with uncountable nouns, then the noun is in the singular and the verb is in the singular.
So, let us do an exercise.
Question one: I would like you to ask about the quantity of your favourite fruit. And I want you to give me two...two types of fruit.
So my example is "How many apples are there?" - "How many apples are there?". So that is my example. I would like you to give me two other examples.
And question two - I would also like you to ask about the quantity of your favourite drink.
And I want you to give me two examples. So my example is "How much milk is there?"
Okay and question three - I would like you to tell me what food is in small quantity in your cupboard. And I would like you to give me four things.
So in your home, I would like you to open your cupboard and to describe a food which is only in small quantity.
So my example would be - "There aren't many apples" and "There isn't much rice".
So those are two examples of mine and I want you to give me four.
And so I would like you to do this exercise in the comment section below the video please.
So if you write your answers in the comments below the video,
then I will reply to you in the comments and I will tell you if your answers are right or wrong and I will give you the explanation of why.
Ok? So that is the end of today's lesson.
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If you want more information about countable and uncountable nouns, then here is an English grammar lesson which describes it in more detail.
And on the right, this is a listening exercise.
Okay, so that is the end of the lesson. Thank you very much for watching
and my name is Andrew at Crown Academy of English and I'll see you next time. Bye bye!