Common grammatical mistakes made in English: much versus many.
Learning a language is a process of trial and error. Of course, as a non-native speaker, you will occasionally make mistakes; you can't avoid that.
But if you become aware of some common mistakes, you will be one step closer to professionalising your business English.
A common grammatical error made in English by non-native speakers is the use of Much versus many.
Much versus Many
The use of much or many is often confused by non-native speakers. However, there is a very clear and straightforward rule:
Much
Much is used for mass nouns that cannot be counted.
The noun will always be singular when you use much:
- I don't have much time left.
- How much money did we spend on that project?
Many
Many is used for nouns that can be counted.
The noun will always be plural when you use many:
- How many emails did you send?
- I have so many things to do before I can go on holiday.
- I don't know how many employees they have.
Are you still in doubt? Use 'a lot of'. You can use this in both situations ;-)
* In any case, 'much' and 'many' are usually only used in questions and negative sentences, as in affirmative sentences 'a lot of' is usually used anyway. For example, we do not say 'I have much time left', but 'I have a lot of time left'.
More examples
- Wrong: *I don’t drink many water.
Right: I don’t drink much. (or: I don't drink a lot of water.) - Wrong: *Do you have much meetings today ?
Right: Do you have many many meetings today ? (or: Do you have a lot of meetings today?)
More tips on English grammar and common mistakes in English? These articles might also interest you:
- English grammar: If versus when
- English grammar: Fewer versus less
- English grammar: For versus since
- English grammar: Which versus who
- English grammar: Good, well or right
- English grammar: To lay versus to lie
- English grammar: Present or Present Perfect
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