The Sunday News
Much, many, little, few, a lot, plenty. When do we use these words? We use much and little with uncountable nouns: much time, much luck, and little energy. We use many and few with plural nouns: many friends, many people, few cars, and few countries.
A lot (of) lots (of) and plenty (of). We use a lot of/ lots of/ plenty of with uncountable and plural nouns: a lot of luck, lots of time, plenty of food, a lot of people, lots of books, and plenty of ideas to mention but a few. Plenty is equal to more than enough: – “Have some more to eat.” “No, thank you. I’ve had plenty.”
– There is no need to hurry. We’ve got plenty of time at our disposal.
We use much and many mainly in negative sentences and questions: – She didn’t spend much money.
Have you got many friends? In positive sentences it is usually better to use a lot (of). Much is especially unusually in positive sentences: – We spent a lot of money. (not ‘we spent much money’). – There has been a lot of rain recently. (not much rain).
But we use too much and so much in positive sentences. I can’t drink this tea. There’s too much sugar in it.
Little/a little; few/a few. Little and few (without a) are negative ideas. Hurry up! We’ve got little time. (not much, not enough time). He is unpopular.
He has few friends. (= not many, not enough friends). We also use very little and very few. We’ve got very little time. He has very few friends.
“A little” and “a few” are more positive ideas. A little/a few = some, a small, or a small number. Let’s go and have a drink. We’ve got a little time before the bus leaves. (= some time, enough time to have a drink).”
Have you got any money?” “Yes, a little. Do you want to borrow some? (a little = not enough but enough for you to borrow some).
I enjoy my life here. I have a few friends and we meet quite often. (a few friends = not many but enough to have a good time. When did you last see Ivy?
A few days ago. (= some days ago). But ‘only a little’ and ‘only a few’ have a negative meaning: Hurry up! We’ve only got a little time. The town was very small. There were only few shops.
Try this exercise to show that you have understood what has been said so far: Complete these sentences with much, many and a lot (of).
Sometimes there are two possibilities. Examples: There weren’t many people at the party. It cost me a lot of money to furnish this house.
We’ll have to hurry. We haven’t got . . . time. Harry drinks . . . milk – one litre a day. She is a very quiet person. She doesn’t say – . I put . . . salt in the soup. Perhaps too . . . The man was badly injured in the accident. He lost . . . blood. This car is very expensive to run. It uses . . . petrol. It’s not a very lively town.
There isn’t . . . to do.
Now you have to make sentences with plenty (of). Use the word in brackets. Example: We do not need to hurry. (time) We have got plenty of time. He’s got no financial problems. (money) he’s got . . . We don’t need to go to a petrol station. (petrol). Come and sit at our table. (room) There is . . . We can make omelets for lunch. (eggs). We will easily find somewhere to stay. (hotels) There.
Complete these sentences with little/ a little/few/ a few. Examples: Hurry! We’ve got little time. I last saw Pretty a few days ago. We didn’t have any money but Michelle had. . . He doesn’t speak much French. Only . . . words. “Would you like some more cake?” “Yes, please, but only . . .” This town isn’t very well-known and there isn’t much to see, so . . . tourists come here. I don’t think Petra would be a good teacher. She’s got . . . patience with children.
All, every and whole. All, everyone, everybody and everything. We do not normally use all to mean everyone/everybody. Everybody enjoyed the party. (not all enjoyed . . .). Shirley knows everyone in her street. (not . . . in her street).
Sometimes you can use all to mean everything, but it is better to say everything. He thinks he knows everything. (not he knows all). It was an awful holiday. Everything went wrong. (not all went wrong).
But you can use all in the expression all about: They told us all about their holiday. We also use all to mean the only thing(s): All she’s eaten today is a pie. (= the only thing she has eaten).
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