many-much

Question

fill in many -much,little or few.1.) very......of them came to last night's meeting?   Here the answer firstly  seems "few" but I have seen "very many" somewhere before.and many is also used in affirmative vsentences at the beginning of the sentence as a subject or parts of subjects.and therefore I put many also here, and it suited this sentence also.Could you tell me the difference please?2. We have one too many chairs here. or we have one few chairs here.   oh my God these sentences are really difficult to understand , which one is true or what do they mean? Please help?3.I don't see much of them these days ?what is them ? is it used for people or something uncountable I don't figure out?Help please4.only a few-only a little ver few --------------all these have the same meaning as "few" and "little"  which has negative meaning.thanks for now.last question sorry:There aren't very many houses for sale around here.    "very many"---is it strange?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

fill in many -much,little or few.

1.) very......of them came to last night's meeting?

Here the answer firstly seems "few" but I have seen "very many" somewhere before.

and many is also used in affirmative vsentences at the beginning of the sentence as a subject or parts of subjects.

and therefore I put many also here, and it suited this sentence also.Could you tell me the difference please? I wouldn't say that 'few' is wrong, but you'll normally hear 'many'in this context. It might be that speakers feel 'few' is a negative word (eg only a few people came) and we prefer to ask questions in the positive form rather than the negative form (eg Did you do it? rather than Didn't you do it?).

2. We have one too many chairs here. or we have one few chairs here.

oh my *** these sentences are really difficult to understand , which one is true or what do they mean? Please help? I need 3 chairs. If I have one too many, I have 4. If I have one too few, I have 2.

3.I don't see much of them these days ?

what is them ? is it used for people or something uncountable I don't figure out?Help please

Normally, I'd expect 'see much of . . . ' in this context to refer to people. 'Much' is correct. It doesn't refer to people, but rather to the uncountable 'whole possible amount that I might see of them'.

4.only a few-only a little ver few --------------

all these have the same meaning as "few" and "little" which has negative meaning.

only a few countable things. 'Only' suggests 'not a lot', 'more might have been expected or possible'.

eg Only a few people came to the meeting. We expected a large crowd.

only a little uncountable things

very few a very small number. But this may not be surprising.

eg Very few people came to the meeting. That's what we expected.

thanks for now.

last question sorry:

There aren't very many houses for sale around here. "very many"---is it strange? No, not at all.

Best wishes, Clive

Redkiddy · Answer

thank you..

many-much

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