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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Many vs. a lot of - grammatically incorrect?
Hi native speakers, I've been wondering about the use of "many" for quite some time. I've heard that people prefer to say "a lot of" instead of "many" in positive sentences in spoken language. But is "many" grammatically incorrect in positive statements? Let's say in sentences like these:
There are many people in the street.
I've had many doubts about that.
There were many things to be done.
...
Thank you All for your input!
There are many people in the street.
I've had many doubts about that.
There were many things to be done.
...
Thank you All for your input!
Top answer
'Many' is perfectly good in those and other affirmative sentences. It is simply that 'a lot of' / 'lots of is EXTREMELY common in spoken English.
- 'Many' is perfectly good in those and other affirmative sentences.
- It is simply that 'a lot of' / 'lots of is EXTREMELY common in spoken English.
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4 Answers
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'Many' is perfectly good in those and other affirmative sentences. It is simply that 'a lot of' / 'lots of is EXTREMELY common in spoken English.
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Mister Micawber,
A couple of days ago, while drafting a news report which was to be given to the students as a model , I wrote 'quite a number of volunteers from various NGOs attended the seminar.'.
One sudent felt 'quite a number of' seems odd here, and felt instead of it 'many' can be used.
Can you share your view on this?
A couple of days ago, while drafting a news report which was to be given to the students as a model , I wrote 'quite a number of volunteers from various NGOs attended the seminar.'.
One sudent felt 'quite a number of' seems odd here, and felt instead of it 'many' can be used.
Can you share your view on this?
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'Quite a number' seems odd only because it is too verbose for a news report; the phrase is rather formal. 'Many' would work fine.
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