0
Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
many/much of the books I've read
"I was an English major and I got through a decent number of novels before I discovered the addictive and mind-numbing habit of opening 104 browser tabs at once. But I’ve also forgotten almost all of the details of many of the books I’ve read. And apparently, I’m not alone."
In the above quote of Time magazine, can I use "much" instead of "many" in the second sentence?
"But I've also forgotten almost all of the details of much of the books I've read."
If I can, is there any difference in meaning?
In the above quote of Time magazine, can I use "much" instead of "many" in the second sentence?
"But I've also forgotten almost all of the details of much of the books I've read."
If I can, is there any difference in meaning?
Top answer
Slightly and technically. "Forgotten almost all the details of many of the books I've read" says that there are a large number of books he's read about which he remembers little of the entire text. But it's just many of the books.
- Slightly and technically.
- "Forgotten almost all the details of many of the books I've read" says that there are a large number of books he's read about which he remembers little of the entire text.
- But it's just many of the books.
- That would leave a few and only a few about which he does remember details.
- "Forgotten almost all the details of much of the books I've read" says that for all the books he's read, he's forgotten the details of most of their content.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
3 Answers
0
Slightly and technically.
"Forgotten almost all the details of many of the books I've read" says that there are a large number of books he's read about which he remembers little of the entire text. But it's just many of the books. That would leave a few and only a few about which he does remember details.
"Forgotten almost all the details of much of the books I've read" says t
"Forgotten almost all the details of many of the books I've read" says that there are a large number of books he's read about which he remembers little of the entire text. But it's just many of the books. That would leave a few and only a few about which he does remember details.
"Forgotten almost all the details of much of the books I've read" says t
00
Thanks.
So it would be no problem for using "much of" followed by the plural noun phrase "the books", right?
But normally "much" represents an amount and thus goes with an uncountable noun as in "much of the information" whereas "many" represents a number and goes with a countable, plural noun as in "many of the books".
So, if "much" is possible in "much of the books", how do I tr
So it would be no problem for using "much of" followed by the plural noun phrase "the books", right?
But normally "much" represents an amount and thus goes with an uncountable noun as in "much of the information" whereas "many" represents a number and goes with a countable, plural noun as in "many of the books".
So, if "much" is possible in "much of the books", how do I tr
00
Perceptive question.
"Much" (a large but noncountable portion) would apply to each of the books.
"Much" would still be a noncountable collection, just collated from a number of books, so it's still singular. Use "is."
"Much" (a large but noncountable portion) would apply to each of the books.
"Much" would still be a noncountable collection, just collated from a number of books, so it's still singular. Use "is."
0
Related Questions