Much or many

Okay, so we know the nouns. But when do we use 'many' or 'much' then...?

 

Many

We use the English word 'many’ with 'countable nouns'. Here are some examples;

 

Er zijn veel meisjes in mijn klas.                         There are many girls in my class.

Hoeveel honden heb jij?                                     How many dogs have you got

Ik heb niet veel pennen.                                     I haven’t got many pens.

Er zitten veel eenden in de vijver.                       There are many ducks in the pond.

 

 

Many ducks

Many ducks

 

 

Much

We use the Eglish word 'much’ with 'uncountable nouns'. Here are some examples;

Er is veel geld over.                                             There is much money left.

Heb ik veel tijd?                                                    Have I got much time?

Ik heb niet veel geluk.                                         I haven’t got much luck.

Er is niet veel liefde in mijn hart.                         There isn't much love in my heart.

 

 

Much love

Much love

 

A mnemonic (ezelsbruggetje) I tend to use is ''much money, many people''. When you say it really fast it is quite funny and it reminds you of when to use much and when to use many. Much with uncountables like money and many with countables like people.

 

A lot of

Besides much and many, we have ''a lot of''.

Most of the time, we use ''a lot of'' in affirmative (bevestigende) sentences. We can use a lot of with countables AND un countables.

For questions and negative sentences we use much/many.

 

For example:

We have a lot of free time this week. (time is uncountable)

We do not have much time this week.

Do we have much time this week?

 

She has a lot of friends. (a friend is countable)

She does not have many friends.

Does she have many friends?

 

 

Here is another video to summarize what you just read!

Much or many? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urehttUgO3k