Time for more grammar. This time we’re going to look at the words much, many, and a lot of.

The key to knowing when to use these words is remembering your count and non-count nouns. To review count and noun-count nouns, click here.

Basically, you use “many” with plural count nouns. For example: many people, many apples, many problems, many friends. You can use “many” in statements and questions, affirmative or negative.

“Much,” on the other hand, is used with non-count nouns. For example: much money, much homework, much coffee, much trouble. But we only use “much” in questions and negative statements. For example: “I don’t have much money. How much money do you have?” We do not say “I have much money.”

In this case, we say “I have a lot of money.” “A lot of” can be used with count or non-count nouns – it doesn’t matter! It can also be used in questions and statements, negative or affirmative. But if we begin the question with “how,” then we have to use either “much” or “many.” We can’t say “How a lot of money do you have?’

Watch this video for some extra practice, then take the quiz to test your knowledge: