Question

What's the difference between much, more and many?

KrisBlueNZ · Accepted Answer

Many means a large number of, and is used with countable nouns. "How many apples are in the basket?" "There are many dents in my car."

Much means a large amount of, and is used with uncountable nouns. "How much money do you earn per week?" "She loves me very much." "The sun is much bigger than the earth." It is sometimes (incorrectly) used with countable nouns: "How much clothes do you have?" It's often used with how: "How much is that doggie in the window?" (how much money does it cost?), and other examples in this post.

More means a greater number or amount of, and is used with both countable and uncountable nouns. For countable nouns, the plural form is used: "There are more potatoes on his plate than [there are on] mine." "Give me more potatoes!". With uncountable nouns, the singular form is used: "There is more wine in his glass than [there is in] mine." "Give me more wine!"

When more is used to compare two amounts, it is used with than: "Five is more than four." (In that example, greater would be better than more) and "This colour is more green than blue."

Many and much can be combined with more, and used with the same type of nouns: "He has many more potatoes than me" "I want much more wine!" "No matter how much I have, I always want more. Much more!"

A lot (of) (often INCORRECTLY spelt alot) can be used like both many and much, for both countable and uncountable nouns: "He has a lot of cars" "He has a lot more potatoes than I have" (countable), and "There is a lot of dirt on my shoes" (uncountable).

There are also lots and lots of, but I think that's enough for this post!

There are probably more subtleties involved here, but these are the basic definitions and rules, as far as I can work them out from my knowledge of correct and incorrect usage.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousmuch, more and many

much + singular (substance) (uncountable)
many + plural (objects) (countable)

Often after negatives:

There isn't much sugar left.
There aren't many apples left.
__________________

more ~ a greater amount of; a greater number of

Used in comparisons.

There is more sugar here than there.
There are more apples here than there.

some x x x x x
more x x x x x x x x x x
_____

much more + singular ~ a much greater amount of
many more + plural ~ a much greater number of

There is much more sugar in this bowl than in that bowl.
There are many more apples on this table than on that table.

some x x x x x
more x x x x x x x x x x
many more x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

CJ

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