76 A lot

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76. A lot /much/ many

a lot of money / much money a lot of books / many books.

A.

We use much + uncountable noun:

Much money much food

Much time much coffee

- Do you drink much coffee?- How much money do you have?- She doesnt have much time.- A: Do you have any money?

B: I have some but not much.

- Sue spoke to me but she didnt say much.

We use many + plural noun:

Many books many stores

Many people many questions

- Do you know many people?- How many photographs did you take?- He doesnt have many friends.- A: Did you take any photographs?

B: I took some but not many.

- Ive been to Paris many times.

We use a lot of + uncountable or plural noun:

a lot of money a lot of coffee a lot of people a lot of questions

- I drink a lot of coffee. - I know a lot of people.

- We spent a lot of money. - We took a lot of photographs.

- She doesnt have a lot of free time. - Did they ask you a lot of questions?

B. We use muchin questions and negative sentences. We do not normallyuse muchin positive sentences.

- Do you drink much coffee / a lot of coffee?

- I dont drink much coffee / a lot of coffee.

But I drink a lot of coffee. (not I drink much coffee.)

We use many and a lot (of) in all kinds of sentences:

- Do you know many people / a lot of people?- I dont know many people / a lot of people.-

I know many people / a lot of people.

Raymond Murphy. Essential Grammar in Use. Singapore : Cambridge University Press. 2002.

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C. We use a lot of + noun. Compare a lot and a lot of.- He eats a lot. (not a lot of)

But he eats a lot of food. (a lot of + noun)

Note that we say:

- There is a lot of food/money/coffee, etc. (singular verb)But there are a lot of trees/coffee, etc. (plural verb)

A lot of people speak English. (not A lot of people speaks)

D. Sometimes much or a lot = often:- Do you watch TV much? No, not much. (= not often)

- I dont like to stay home, so I go out a lot.

Exercises

76.1 Answer the questions with I have

1. Do you have any money? I have some but not much.

2. Do you have any coffee? I have some but ..

3. Do you have any books?

4. Do you have any stamps?

5. Do you have any cheese?

76.2 Write questions with How much ? Or How many?

I took some photographs. How many photographs did you take?

1. I lost some money. ?2. I drink some water. ?3. I made some mistakes. ?4. I wrote some letters. ?5. I bought some food. ?


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76.3 In some of these sentences it is more natural to use a lot (of).

Change the sentences where necessary. Write okay if thesentence is correct.

1. Do you drink much tea? Okay.

2. Tom drinks much tea. a lot of tea

3. It was a cold winter. We had much snow .

4. Did you have much snow last winter? .

5. It costs much money to travel around the world. .

6. We went on a cheap vacation. It didnt cost much. ..

7. Dan knows much about economics. ..

8. Do you know anything about computers? Not much .

76.4 Complete the sentences with a lot of+ one of the following:accidents, books, fun, interesting things, traffic.

1. I like reading. I have a lot of books.

2. I dont speak French very well. I make

3. We enjoyed our visit to the museum. We saw .

4. We enjoyed our vacation. We had

5. This road is very dangerous. There are .

6. It takes me a long time to drive to work. There is always.

76.5 Write the questions and answers. Use much and a lot.

1. (go to the movies) Do you go to the movies much? No, not much.

2. (watch TV) .? Yes, ..

3. (go swimming) go swimming ? No,

4. (play tennis) Do .? Yes, ..

5. (travel) ? Yes, ...


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76 A lot