GRAMMAR

Many and much

How much and How many

How many is used in questions with plural countable nouns,

and how much is used with uncountable nouns.

How many apples do you eat every week?

How much fruit do you eat every day?

Many and much in statements

■ Many is used in statements with plural countable nouns.

Much is used with uncountable nouns.

■ Many is not usually used in affirmative statements like the

following:

not: I eat many eggs.

instead: I eat a lot of eggs.

Much is not usually used in affirmative statements like the

following:

not: I eat much fruit.

instead: I eat a lot of fruit.

■ However, both many and much are used in negative

statements.

I don’t eat many eggs.

I don’t eat much fruit.

Note: A lot of can also be used in negative statements (e.g.,

I don’t eat a lot of eggs. I don’t eat a lot of fruit.).

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns

■ In English, some nouns are considered “countable”: for

example, one potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, etc.

■ Countable nouns are nouns that have singular and plural

forms. Singular countable nouns can be used with a / an.

a carrot (singular) carrots (plural)

■ Singular countable nouns need a determiner before them

(e.g., a carrot, the carrot, this carrot).

■ Plural countable nouns can stand for general categories

(e.g., I love carrots.). They do not need a determiner before

them for this use.

Uncountable nouns

■ Uncountable nouns do not have a plural form. They

cannot be used with a / an or plural -s.

rice, not a rice or rices

■ Uncountable nouns are often used with some (e.g., some

rice) and other determiners (the rice).

Nouns that can be either countable or uncountable

■ Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable with

little difference in meaning (e.g., fruit, food, cheese). Many

of these are food words. In conversation, the uncountable

or singular forms of these words are much more frequent

than the plural forms.

■ Sometimes there is a difference in meaning:

I love coffee. (uncountable = the substance in general)

Can I have (a) coffee / three coffees? (countable = a cup /

three cups of coffee)

I like chicken. (uncountable = the meat)

I saw some chickens today. (countable = the animals)