 |
These expressions are used before a noun and also without a noun. The forms are:
|
|
Countable plural |
Uncountable |
|
Before a noun |
many chairs |
much food |
|
|
a lot of chairs |
a lot of food |
|
|
(a) few chairs |
(a) little food |
|
Without a noun |
many |
much |
|
|
a lot |
a lot |
|
|
(a) few |
(a) little |
Many and much are more common in questions and negatives; we tend to use a lot (of) in positive statements, e.g.:
 | A: Have you found many mistakes? (¿Has descubierto muchos errores?) |
| | B: No, there aren't many. (No, no hay muchos.) |
| She has a lot of friends in Germany.
(Tiene muchos amigos en Alemania.) |
| C: Did they use much paint? (¿Gastaron mucha pintura?) |
| | D: Yes, they used a lot. (Sí, gastaron mucha.) |
Notice the difference between a few, a little and few, little, e.g.:
| a few letters (Unas cuantas cartas) |
| few letters (Pocas cartas) |
| a little food (Un poco de comida) |
| little food (Poca comida) |
Few and little are formal; informally we tend to use not many and not much, e.g.:
| Not many people came.
(No vino demasiada gente.) |
| We haven't seen many films this year.
(No hemos visto muchas películas este año.) |
| They didn't bring much luggage.
(No llevaron mucho equipaje.) |
The comparative and superlative forms are:
| |
Comparative |
Superlative |
|
many cats |
more cats (than) |
(the) most cats |
|
much food |
more food (than) |
(the) most food |
|
few cats |
fewer/less1 cats (than) |
(the) fewest cats |
|
little food |
less food (than) |
(the) least food |
1 Less is common with countable nouns, but some people consider it ungrammatical. |
