Page 364 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

3 much/many o f + determiner + noun
Before determiners (e.g. a, the, my, this) and pronouns, we use much ofand many a!
You can't see much ofa country in a week.
How much ofthe house do you want to paint this year?
I won't pass the exam: I've missed too many ofmy lessons. How many ofyou are there?
4 much/many without a noun
We can drop a noun after much or many, if the meaning is clear. You haven't eaten much.
Did you find any mushrooms? -Not many.
Note that much and many are only used like this when a noun has been dropped.
There wasn't much (food). BUT NOT Thef6tJti r:tIfiS'I't mtteh. (Because you couldn't say The J'(jeti r:tIfiSn't mtteh foeti.)
Many is not usually used alone to mean 'many people'. Many people think it's time for a change.
(More natural than Many think . ..)
5 not used in affirmative clauses
In an informal style, we use much and many mostly in questions and negative clauses. In most affirmative clauses they are unusual (especially much); other words and expressions are used instead.
How much money have you got? ",I've got plenty. (NOT {'tte gtJt mtteh.) lle's got lots of men friends, but he doesn't know many women.
(More natural than He's got many men friends . ..) Did you buy any clothes? '" Yes, lots. (NOT Yes, many.)
In a formal style, much and many are more common in affirmative clauses. Much has been written about unemployment. In the opinion ofmany
economists, ...
Far and long (= a long time) are also used mostly in questions and negative clauses. See 200 and 330.
6 after so, as, and too
So much/many, as much/many and too much/many are quite natural in affirmative clauses.
There was so much traffic that it took me an hour to get home. I play as much tennis as I can. You make too many mistakes.
7 much as adverb
We can use much as an adverb in questions and negative clauses. Do you work much at weekends? I don't travel much these days. We can also use much before comparative adjectives and adverbs, in
affirmative clauses as well as questions and negatives.
She's much older than her brother. I don't drive much faster than you. Much can be used before some verbs expressing enjoyment, preference and similar ideas, in affirmative clauses as well as questions and negatives, especially in a formal style.
much and many 357
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