Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
63 Much, many, a lot of, plenty (Very) little, (very) few A little, a few
Quick reference
• We use a lot of, many, plenty of, a few, very few + countable nouns to say how many.
Affirmative
There are a lot of shops in the city.
Many people never go abroad.
I bought a few bottles of wine.
Negative
There aren’t many cars on the road.
Questions
Has he got many friends?
• We use a lot of, plenty of, very little, a little, much + uncountable nouns to say how much.
Affirmative
He drank a lot of water.
I’ve got plenty of time.
She’s got very little patience.
Negative
There isn’t much food in the house.
Questions
How much sugar do you want?
Is there much milk left?
• Plenty (of) means ’more than enough’.
• Very little/little and very few/few have a negative meaning.
A little and a few have a more positive meaning.
He’s worried. He's got very little money. It’s OK. I’ve got a little money left.
He’s lonely. He knows very few people. She isn’t lonely. She's got a few friends.
• Note the use of too much/too many and so much/so many. Unlike much, so much and too much can be used in affirmative sentences.
There’s too much traffic. You talk too much. There are too many people in the lift.
So much money is wasted. I’ve seen so many bad films this year.
1 Canterbury in the south of England and Billingham in the north of England both have a population of about 35,000. But apart from that they are very different.
Use the words in the box to complete the questions and answers.
a lot
a lot of
a few
much
many
very few
not much
1 How ... unemployment is there in Billingham? - There’s ...
2 Is there ... in Canterbury? - No, ...
3 How ... families with two cars are there in Canterbury? - There are quite ...
4 Are there ... in Billingham? - No, there are ...
5 Are there ... empty shops in Billingham? - Yes, ...
6 Are there ... in Canterbury? - No, there are only ...
7 How ... tourists visit Canterbury each year? ...
8 How ... visit Billingham? ...
2 Read the text below about a hairdresser, Gary St John. Look carefully at each line. Some of the lines are correct, and some have a mistake in them. If a line is correct put a tick (✓) after it. If a line has a mistake in it, underline the mistake and write the correction in the brackets.
Example: How many training did you have?
Gary: (1) Not much. I remember I made a lot of mistakes when I first started.
Interviewer: (2) How many years have you been a qualified hairdresser?
Gary: (3) Only a little. Three in fact.
Interviewer: (4) How much customers do you have a day?
Gary: (5) Quite many. Between 10 and 15 usually.
Interviewer: (6) How much do you speak to them?
Gary: (7) Much. In fact, some people say I talk too much!
Interviewer: (8) And how much of them are friends?
Gary: (9) Oh very little. I see a lot of them every week.
(10) But 1 only know a few of them outside the salon.
Interviewer: (11) How much hours a week do you work?
Gary: (12) Quite a few. I suppose about 45 on average.
Interviewer: (13) Do you make many money from tips?
Gary: (14) Yes, a few. But I have to pay tax on it.
Interviewer: (15) And how much do you earn altogether?
Gary: (16) Too few!
3 Alan Burnside is a successful businessman. Read the facts about his lifestyle and then match the questions on the left with the answers on the right.
1 Does he smoke many cigarettes?
2 How much exercise does he get?
3 Does he drink much alcohol?
4 Does he get much sleep?
5 How much time does he spend with his family?
6 Does he make much money?
a) Yes, a lot.
b) No, only a few.
c) No, not much.
d) Yes, quite a lot.
e) Quite a lot.
f) Very little.
1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6...
4 A ship has sunk. Two sailors have swum to an island. Make sentences, using there is/there are + plenty of + these nouns: ships, fruit, fresh water, fish, wood.
1 We won’t starve. ... on the trees.
2 We can make a fire. ...
3 It rains a lot on the island so ... to drink.
4 ... in the sea so we can catch them and eat them.
5 We’ll soon be rescued ... in the area.