MUCH, MANY AND A LOT OF

1). MANY

We generally use “many” in questions and negative sentences with countable noun.

Example:

- Have you got many pens in your bag?

- She doesn’t have many cars.

2). MUCH

We also use “much” in questions and negative sentences but with uncountable noun.

Example:

- Is there much water left?

- We don’t spend much money.

3). A LOT OF/ LOTS OF

We mostly use “a lot of/lots of” in positive sentences with both countable and uncountable noun.

Example:

- He drinks a lot of beer in the pub.

- I can speak lots of languages.

NOTE 1: We often use plenty of instead of a lot of. However, plenty of means ‘enough, or more than enough’ and is therefore not likely in certain contexts.

Compare:

- We took lots of food and drink on our walk through the hills. (or …plenty of…) and

- Jim doesn’t look well. He’s lost a lot of weight. (‘plenty of’ is unlikely here)

NOTE 2: Unnaturally, we can use “many, much and a lot of/lots of” in all sentences—questions, positive and negative sentences.

Example:

- Many people are poor in Cambodia.

- She has much time to do everything.

- I don’t have a lot of computers to repair.

- Do you import a lot of cars from the United States?