Many/Much people

Question

In one of the Cambridge books a came across the following sentence: Brand recognition is how much people recognize a brand. Why is MUCH used here? I thought PEOPLE is a countable noun and we should use MANY. Can it be a misprint?

MrPernickety · Accepted Answer

Please, look at these:

How much do you like eating icecream? I like eating ice-cream very much.

How much icecream do you like eating at once? (About 10 lb.)

How many people like the brand? About 1000 people.

How much do people like the brand? They like it very much.

Olgaa · Answer

You wanna say that much here refers to "recognise" as to the action rather than to the noun "people"? In my opinion it would be more reasonable to write "... how often people recognise..."

Sjvn · Answer

Yes, this is a bit tricky.

But here, 'how much people recognize' is not referring to the number of people, but rather the level of recognition. In this case, the use of 'much' is correct.

Fandorin · Answer

I go along with the rest. It's a good way of conveying the extent of something.

Anonymous · Answer

Today I saw this in King James version of the Bible:

Acts 18:10 (King James Version)

¹⁰For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

I guess, there is more to be explained here.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

You should begin by considering that the English of King James was not the same as modern English.

Also, remember that he was Scottish, not English.

Best wishes, Clive

Grudziar · Answer

I found a good answer to my question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071205155202AA2grza

Anonymous · Answer

The question is wrong, the correct is how much do people recognize?

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThe question is wrong, the correct is how much do people recognize?

Fatimaali · Answer

"how much" in this context is referring to peoples' liking not to their number.

Many/Much people

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Acts 18:10 (King James Version)

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