A Lot Of, Many, Or Much?

What's in this post?

• I. "A lot of"
• II. "Many" and "much"
• III. "A lot", "many" and "much" without a noun
• IV. Exercises

I. "A lot of"

"A lot of" is used for all types of sentences, affirmative (positive), interrogative (questions), or negative sentences, for both countable and uncountable nouns.

1. Example sentences with "a lot of" + countable nouns:
   • I have a lot of books.
   • Bob doesn't have a lot of clothes.
   • Do you have a lot of friends?
2. Example sentences with "a lot of" + uncountable nouns:
   • I have a lot of work to do.
   • Ali doesn't have a lot of money.
   • Do you have a lot of spare time?

Note: "Much" is never used in affirmative / positive sentences, while "many" can sometimes be used at the beginning of an affirmative / positive sentence, especially when the meaning is negative.

II. "Many" and "much"

"Many" and "much" are used in interrogative (questions) and negative sentences. "Many" is used for both countable nouns, whereas "much" is for uncountable nouns.

1. Example of interrogative sentences with "many" + countable nouns:
   • Do you have many books?
   • Does Siti have many clothes?
   • Do you have many photos?
   • I don't have many books.
   • Siti doesn't have many clothes.
   • I don't have many photos.
2. Example of interrogative sentences with "much" + uncountable nouns:
   • Do you have much paper?
   • Does Ali have much money?
   • Do you have much spare time?
   • I don't have much paper.
   • Ali doesn't have much money.
   • I don't have much spare time.

III. "A lot", "many" and "much" without a noun

"A lot", "many" and "much" can also be used without a noun.
Example sentences:

• I have some money but not much.
• I took some pictures but not many.
• She spoke to me but she didn't say much.
• Do you watch TV much? ~ No, not much.
• We like films, so we go to the cinema a lot.
• I don't like him very much.

IV. Exercises

A. Interactive Quiz

Complete each sentence by filling in the blank spaces with the correct answer, "a lot of", "many", or "much".

B. Writing Exercise

Rewrite the following sentences into the interrogative (questions).

1. He has a lot of friends.
2. Bill takes a lot of medicine.
3. This hotel has a lot of rooms.
4. There are a lot of bananas on the table.
5. They drink a lot of tea.

Rewrite the following sentences into the negative.

6. He is saving a lot of money.
7. There are a lot of kangaroos in the country.
8. There are a lot of people in front of the building.
9. She eats a lot of biscuits.
10. There is a lot of traffic in the streets during rush hours.

Complete the following sentences using "a lot of", "many", or "much". Sometimes, more than one answer may be possible.

11. Ali has ... spare time.
12. Indonesia has ... beautiful beaches.
13. Does Brisbane have ... bridges?
14. Do you eat ... rice?
15. We don't have ... bread.
16. Do they have ... different customs?
17. Barbara has ... flowers in her garden.
18. We usually have ... rain from October to April.
19. There are ... islands in Indonesia.
20. Do they grow ... rice?
21. How ... money have you got?
22. How ... photographs did you take?
23. How ... is this book?
24. How ... does the ticket cost?
25. Did they ask you ... questions?

Also read "Some VS Any: What's The Difference?"