How to use much?
We use "much" with "uncountable nouns". When you think of myriad nouns, they are usually those that have only one form such as oxygen, baggage, water, money, milk, or sunlight. You will not be able to count them.
Adding "much" means telling the reader that there is a large amount of this uncountable noun. for example:
- How much petrol is in the car?
- We don't have much time left.
- There isn't much time.
- Did you need that much milk?
How to use many?
We use "many" with "countable nouns", it's time to look at countable nouns. Examples of nouns you can count include animals, objects, and vehicles.
These will usually contain singular and plural forms that you can calculate. Examples of how to add "many" to these names include:
- How many people were at the meeting?
- Not many of the students understood the lesson.
- There are many cats in the yard.
- There was a child seat in many cars.
Much and many vs. a lot of
We use a lot of and lot of with both countable and uncountable nouns, singular and plural and are easier than "much" and "many".
But "much" and "many" are more formal. They all have the same meaning, but we often use them differently.
For example, we often use "a lot of" in affirmative sentences. But in the negatives and questions we prefer "much" and "many", examples:
- He watches a lot of films. (positive)
- He doesn’t watch many films. (negative)
- Do you watch many films? (Question)
- He drinks lots of coffee. (positive)
- He doesn't drink much coffee. (negative)
- Do you drink much coffee? (Question)
We sometimes use "a lot of" and "lots of" with negative sentences instead of "much" and "many". We use it in a question when we think the answer will be "Yes":
- I don't like a lot of salt in my food. = I don't like much salt in my food.
- Do you get a lot of snow here? = Do you get much snow here?
- Were there a lot of people at the football match? = Were there many people at the football match?