Much/Many, A lot of

Much and Many

We use much with noncount nouns and many with count 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 noncount 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.
Exercises on A Little and A Few The expressions a little and a few mean some. If a noun is in singular, we use a little Example: a little money If a noun is in plural, we use a few Example: a few friends

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

In connection with a little / a few people often speak of countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number (that's why they are called 'countable nouns'). Countable nouns take a few.

Example: 4 friends a few friends

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number (that's why they are called 'uncountable nouns'). Uncountable nouns take a little.

Example: 3 money a little money

Note: Of course you can count money but then you would name the currency and say that you have got 3 euro (but not 3 money).

A Little / A few or Little / Few

It's a difference if you use a little / a few or little / few. Without the article, the words have a limiting or negative meaning. a little = some little = hardly any Example: I need a little money. - I need some money. I need little money. - I need hardly any money. a few = some few = hardly any Example: A few friends visited me. - Some friends visited me. Few friends visited me. - Hardly any friends visited me. Without the article, little / few sound rather formal. That's why we don't use them very often in everyday English. A negative sentence with much / many is more common here.

Example: I need little money. = I do not need much money. Few friends visited me. = Not many friends visited me.
The words some and any are used for countable and uncountable nouns. In general, we could say that some means a few / a little and any means none in negative clauses or a few / a little in questions.

Positive Clauses
In positive clauses, we usually use some.

Example: I have bought some bread. I have bought some apples.

Negative Clauses
In negative clauses, we use any. Note, however, that any alone is not a negative - it must be not ... any

Example: I have not bought any bread. I have not bought any apples.

Questions
In questions, we usually use any.

Example: Have you bought any bread? Have you bought any apples?

Compound Words with some & any

Some & any can also be part of compound words such as: something / anything someone / anyone somewhere / anywhere Note that some & any have to be used with a noun while compound words with some & any can stand on their own.

Example: I have bought some bread. I have bought something.

However, some and any need not stand directly before the noun. Sometimes, the noun appears somewhere before some or any and is not repeated. So if you are not sure whether to use some or something for example, check if there is a noun in the sentence that you can place after some.

Example: I do not have to buy bread. Rachel has already bought some [bread]. In general, we use something/anything and somebody/anybody in the same way assome/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?

A noun can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be "counted", they have a singular and plural form . For example:

A book, two books, three books ..... An apple, two apples, three apples ....

Uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns or noncount nouns) cannot be counted, they are not seperate objects. This means you cannot make them plural by adding -s, because they only have a singular form. It also means that they do not take a/an or a number in front of them. For example:

Water Work Information Coffee Sand Countable (use a/an or a number in front of countable nouns) Uncountable (there is no a/an or number with uncountable nouns) Rice I eat rice every day. (not I eat a rice every day.) There is no plural form for an uncountable noun

An Apple / 1 Apple

I eat an apple every day.

Add (s) to make a countable noun plural

apples I eat an apple every day. Apples are good for you.

rice

I eat rice every day. Rice is good for you.

To make uncountable nouns countable add A computer= Computers are fun. a counting word, such as a unit of measurement, or the general word piece. We use the form "a ....... of ......." An elephant=Elephants are large. Rice=a grain of rice Water=a glass of water Rain=a drop of rain Music=a piece of music You can use some and any with countable You can use some and any with nouns. Some dogs can be dangerous. I don't use any computers at work. uncountable nouns. I usually drink some wine with my meal. I don't usually drink any water with my wine. You only use many and few with plural countable nouns. So many elephants have been hunted that they are an endangered species. There are few elephants in England. You can use a lot of and no with plural countable nouns. No computers were bought last week. A lot of computers were reported broken the week before.

You only use much and little with uncountable nouns. I don't usually drink much coffee. Little wine is undrinkable though.

You can use a lot of and no with uncountable nouns. A lot of wine is drunk in France. No wine is drunk in Iran.

Making uncountable nouns countable You can make most uncountable noun countable by putting a countable expression in front of the noun.

For example:

A piece of information. 2 glasses of water. 10 litres of coffee. Three grains of sand. A pane of glass.

Sources of confusion with countable and uncountable nouns The notion of countable and uncountable can be confusing. Some nouns can be countable or uncountable depending on their meaning. Usually a noun is uncountable when used in a general, abstract meaning (when you don't think of it as a separate object) and countable when used in a particular meaning (when you can think of it as a separate object). For example:glass - A glass of water. (Countable) | A window made of glass. (Uncountable) Some supposedly uncountable nouns can behave like countable nouns if we think of them as being in containers, or one of several types. This is because 'containers' and 'types' can be counted. Believe it or not each of these sentences is correct:Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two coffees a day. (Here coffees refers to the number of cups of coffee) You could write; "Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two cups of coffee a day." The coffees I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian. (Here coffees refers to different types of coffee) You could write; "The types of coffee I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian."

!Note - In good monolingual dictionaries, uncountable nouns are identified by [U] and
countable nouns by [C]. Countable / Uncountable Lesson