1

Much and Many

We use much with uncountable nouns and many with countable nouns.

Many cars are equipped with GPS systems. I ate too many apples. How many trees did you plant this weekend? I don't know how many girls there are at our school. I don't have much money. Our teacher gives us too much homework. How much sugar do we have? I don't know how much water I drank.

A lot of
We use a lot of with uncountable nouns and plural count nouns.

I ate a lot of apples. A lot of people like to swim at night. That dog has a lot of fleas. Mary bought a lot of furniture. The man gave us a lot of advice Our teacher gave us a lot of homework Drink a lot of water (U) Max ate a lot of rice (U) I dont know how much information (U) That road always has a lot of traffic (U) A lot of sand (U) A lot of chickens (c) used for plural A lot of vocabulary (U) A lot of homework (U) A lot of ants ---C, plural

a lot of and lots of , which carry the same basic meaning: a great deal of, are colloquial (i.e., informal) but nonetheless Standard and acceptable. lots of is considered more informal than lots of. There's no rule on usage: Both a lot of and lots of are used with plural count nouns and non-count nouns, like this, Plural Count Noun There are a lot of books in your bag. (OK)

2 There are lots of books in you bag. (OK) Non-Count Noun There is a lot of milk left in your glass. (OK) There is lots of milk left in your glass. (OK) In terms of grammar, the verb agrees in number with the noun: if the noun is plural then the verb is plural, A lot of books were left on the table. Lots of books were left on the table. if the noun is not plural, then the verb is not plural, A lot of milk was left on the table. Lots of milk was left on the table. In academic writing, the more formal 'a great deal of' or 'many', with plural count nouns, and 'a great deal of' or 'much', with non-count nouns are used: Plural Count Noun There are a great deal of books in your bag. A great deal of books are in your bag. Non-Count Noun There is a great deal of milk left in your glass. A great deal of milk is left in your glass. In terms of meaning, speakers tend not to make a distinction between a lot of and lots of; both refer to a great quantity. But, for some speakers, lots of tends to mean, more than a lot of (i.e., a greater quantity). Lot, Lots Of, A Lot Of These three expressions are used in informal English. They can mean either a great quantity of or a large number of and can be rather confusing at times. Here are the general rules for their use. A Lot Of / Lots Of These two expressions both mean a great deal of or several. They are used before a count or non-count noun. These two expressions tend to be used in informal English. Examples:

3 We need a lot of people for this game. She likes lots of jam on her toast. A Lot Use a lot at the end of a sentence as an adverb. A lot is NOT followed by a noun. The meaning is the same as a great deal. Examples: I enjoy swimming a lot. Mary seems to travel a lot. 1. She has _____ friends in Alabama. a lot lots of a lots of 2. He's been late to class _____. lots of a lot of a lot 3. Tom has recently bought ______ wine for his collection. a lot a lot of a lots of 4. Have you ever wondered why he has _____ friends? a lot lots of lots 5. My friends have _____ experience travelling the world. lot of a lots of a lot of 6. She purchased _____ apples before Halloween. a lot lots of a lots of

4 7. They like New York _____. a lot a lot of lots of 8. I'd like to have _____ choices when I grow up. a lot of lots a lot 9. She can't decide whether she'd like _____ time off work or not. lots of a lot lots 10. They purchase their groceries on sale _____. a lot of lots a lot

Some, Any
Some = a little, a few or a small number or amount Any = one, some or all Usually, we use some in positive (+) sentences and any in negative (-) and question (?) sentences. some + ? I have some money. I don't have any money. Do you have any money? any I have $10. I don't have $1 and I don't have $10 and I don't have $1,000,000. I have $0. Do you have $1 or $10 or $1,000,000? example situation

In general, we use something/anything and somebody/anybody in the same way as some/any. Look at these examples:

He needs some stamps. I must go. I have some homework to do. I'm thirsty. I want something to drink. I can see somebody coming. He doesn't need any stamps. I can stay. I don't have any homework to do. I'm not thirsty. I don't want anything to drink. I can't see anybody coming. Does he need any stamps? Do you have any homework to do? Do you want anything to drink? Can you see anybody coming?

We use any in a positive sentence when the real sense is negative.

I refused to give them any money. (I did not give them any money) She finished the test without any difficulty. (she did not have any difficulty)

Sometimes we use some in a question, when we expect a positive YES answer. (We could say that it is not a real question, because we think we know the answer already.)

Would you like some more tea? Could I have some sugar, please?

Some nouns can be both count and uncountable nouns. Usually there is a difference in meaning.

John has some chickens on his farm. (the whole birds) Mary ate some chicken for dinner (the stuff you eat) John has a fish in his aquarium. (the whole fish) Mary had some fish for lunch. (the stuff you eat) There are two hairs in my soup. (two individual hairs) Your hair is pretty. (all of the hair on your head) Mary has a lot of furniture in her office (U) Have you got ______ cigarettes? 2 I like ______ pop music but not all. some some any any some some any any any

3 I don't like ______ pop music. I hate it all. 4 I love the Beatles. I love ______ song by them. 5 ______ people don't like Bill Clinton. some

6 I love ______thing with chocolate in it.

some

any some

7 ______body told me the news but I cannot remember who it was. any 8 You mustn't tell ______body. 9 I don't drink ______ alcohol at all. some some any any some

10 I'm afraid I haven't ______ solution to the problem.

any

11 All the buses from here go to Trafalgar Square. You can take ______ bus. some any some some any any some any any any

12 I never go ______where any more. I always stay at home. 13 I don't mind which day you come. ______ day will do. 14 I heard a noise. ______body is outside. 15 I looked. I couldn't see ______body. some some

16 I've just made a cake. Would you like ______? 17 I'd love ______. Thank you. some any

18 ______ people think you are really stupid.

some

any some any some

19 I don't like ______one in my office. They're all horrible.

20 There's ______one in my office from England. His name is David any

7 A few and a little express a positive idea. They indicate that something exists or is present. Although she has been here only two weeks, she has already made a few friends. This is a positive idea. She has made some friends. I'm very pleased. I've been able to save a little money this month. This is a positive idea. I have saved some money instead of spending all of it. Few and little give a negative idea; they indicate that something is largely absent. I feel sorry for her. She has few friends. Negative idea: She does not have many friends; she has almost no friends. I have little money. I don't even have enough money to buy lunch. Negative idea: I have almost no money Let's try again. a little = some; a small amount / a few = some; a small number (Positive Idea) little = nearly no/nearly nothing / few = nearly no (Negative Idea) PLEASE NOTE that "only a little" and "only a few" have a negative meaning. Pease hurry. We've only got a little time. The village was very small. There were only a few houses. 1. There is ___ rice left. I need to cook some more. There is little (nearly no) rice left. I need to cook some more. OK There is a little (a small amount of) rice left, but I still need to cook some more. (There's not enough for everybody.) OK 2. There is only ___ water left, so share it with others. There is only a little water left, so share it with the others. OK There is little (nearly no) water left, so share it with the others. OK There is only little water left, so share it with the others. Ungrammatical 3. I have ___ things to add to that topic. I have few things (nearly nothing) to add to that topic. OK I have a few (a small number of) things to add to that topic. OK 4. There were ___ mistakes on your essay. There were few (nearly no) mistakes in your essay. OK There were a few (some) mistakes in your essay. OK Adj.1.a few - more than one but indefinitely small in number; "a few roses"; "a couple of roses" a couple of few - a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `a'; a small but indefinite number; "a few weeks ago"; "a few more wagons than usual"; "an invalid's pleasures are few and far between"; "few roses were still blooming"; "few women have led troops in battle"

8 1. I've got ___ money. Let's have coffee. a. a little b. a few

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2. I've got ___ stamps that you can use. a. a little b. a few
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3. I've got ___ time. Do you want to talk? a. a little b. a few

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4. She can speak ___ Spanish. a. a little b. a few

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5. I write ___ letters every week. a. a little b. a few

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6. We had ___ rain last night. a. a little b. a few

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7. They made ___ mistakes, but it was OK. a. a little b. a few

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8. Let's go outside for ___ fresh air. a. a little b. a few

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9. There are ___ new hotels since you last visited. a. a little b. a few
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9 For the first question about 'many' and 'much', I think the original advice was very good: we tend to use 'many' and 'much' in questions and negatives, and use 'lots of' or 'a lot of' in affirmative statements - certainly in spoken English at least. For example: "There are lots of people in the street" AND "That is a lot of milk" are affirmative statements. "There aren't many people in the street," is negative and "How much milk do you want?" is a question. Grammatically speaking, there is nothing wrong with: "There are many people in the park," but in spoken English, we're far more likely use: "There are lots of people in the park." But in more formal writing, it's probably true that we prefer 'many' and 'much' to 'a lot of' and 'lots of', so if you're speaking or writing to friends, it should be: "There are lots of cars in the street," or "People have written a lot about it." But if you want to be more formal, perhaps "There were many cars in the street that day" or "Much has been written about it" might sound better. Moving onto your second question, Nancy: Sometimes there is little difference between 'on' and 'on top of'. Perhaps we would tend to use 'on' more for surfaces where you might expect things to be placed - for example: "It's on the table" "It's on my desk" "It's on the floor". But we use 'on top of' when it's a more unusual place to leave things: "I put my suitcase on top of the wardrobe" OR "I put the presents in my backpack and placed some clothes carefully on top of them." So "I put the book on the table" sounds better than: "I put the book on top of the table." Now, on to your third question, Nancy! As you rightly say, 'cake', like many other nouns, is both countable and uncountable. It's common to use the countable version when we're talking about small cakes made for just one person, for example, cupcakes. I think 'lemon cake' is more likely to be made in a larger size, and cut into slices. And as people often only eat one slice, I would say: "I like cupcakes, but I prefer lemon cake." Finally, we come to 'house' and 'home'. 'A house' is a physical building; a home is much, much more. It's something psychological - it means that it's not just a building; it's more than just a location. 'A home' is somewhere where you feel comfortable; where you feel you belong. Quite often, it's the place where we grew up, or where our parents still live. We often divide our lives into the time we are 'at home' and the time we are 'out'. For this reason,

10 I wouldn't say: "Tom's school uniform is in his aunt's home" OR "Tom's school uniform is at his aunt's home" because in both cases, we are simply referring to a physical location. So it would be better to say: "Tom's school uniform is at his aunt's house." 1. I've got ___ money. Let's have coffee. a. a little b. a few
a

2. I've got ___ stamps that you can use. a. a little b. a few
b

3. I've got ___ time. Do you want to talk? a. a little b. a few

a

4. She can speak ___ Spanish. a. a little b. a few

a

5. I write ___ letters every week. a. a little b. a few

b

6. We had ___ rain last night. a. a little b. a few

a

7. They made ___ mistakes, but it was OK. a. a little b. a few

b

8. Let's go outside for ___ fresh air. a. a little b. a few

a

9. There are ___ new hotels since you last visited. a. a little b. a few
b