'Much' vs. 'Many' and 'How much' vs.'How Many' Exercises, difference +pdfs
Level: 🟡A2
Try the exercises below to become much stronger in your understanding of ‘many’ and ‘much’. There are free pdf worksheets for you to download and print.
Difference/Exercise 1: Many/Much
Difference/Exercise 2: How much/How many
What is the difference between 'much' and 'many'?
We use ‘many’ for countable plural nouns and ‘much’ for uncountable nouns. Both words go before nouns and show that there is a larger quantity or amount of something.
Examples for ‘many’.
▪️There are many apples in the fridge.
▪️Steven applied for many jobs.
The nouns ‘apple’ and ‘job’ are countable.
Examples for ‘much’.
▪️I don’t have much milk left in the kitchen.
▪️Do we have much money in the bank?.
The nouns ‘milk’ and ‘money’ are uncountable.
ℹ️ ‘much’ is used mostly in negative sentences and in questions.
‘So much’ ‘So many’ / ‘Too much’ ‘Too many’
ℹ️ ‘So much’ and ‘So many’ mean ‘a lot of’. They are very common in positive and negative sentences:
▪️There is so much rain today.
▪️There isn’t so much to do in this city…
▪️There are so many cars on the road.
▪️There aren’t so many people in this shop.
ℹ️ We say ‘too much’ when there is an excess of something, or a negative meaning.
▪️ There is too much butter on this bread.
▪️ I’m sorry. I have too many problems at the moment.
Exercise 1: Much/Many
25 questions and answers with explanations.
1 . I feel good. I don’t have _____ work to do today.
much / many
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘work’ is uncountable.
2. Did you get _____ presents for your birthday?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘presents’ are countable.
3. He has so ______ money. He’s a very rich guy.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘money’ is uncountable.
4. Do you watch _____ news on the TV?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘news’ is uncountable.
5. I’m sorry, I don’t have _____ stories to tell you.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘stories’ are countable.
6. Her house was almost empty. She didn’t have ____ furniture at all.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘furniture’ is uncountable.
7. He drinks so _____ coffee!
✅ much
ℹ️ Coffee is uncountable.
8. She has drunk so _____ cups of coffee during the day.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘cups’ are countable.
It’s very common for people to omit the word ‘cups’ and say:
“I want 3 coffees please”
9. Unfortunately, there weren’t _____ people at the party.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘people’ are countable.
10. I don’t have _____ siblings. One brother and one sister.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘siblings’ are countable.
11. There isn’t ____ snow in Switzerland at the moment, but there will be next month.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘snow’ is uncountable.
12. He doesn’t like to eat ____ meat because he thinks it is unhealthy.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘meat’ is uncountable.
13. I have _____ things to do today….
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘things’ are countable.
14. Our new dog has so ____ energy.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘energy’ is uncountable.
15. How _____ time does he need? We have been waiting for a long time..
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘time’ is uncountable when we mean duration/clock time.
16. How _____ times have you been to Greece?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘time’ is countable when we mean occasions and experiences.
17. They get so ____ enjoyment from skiing in the mountains.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘enjoyment’ is an uncountable noun.
18. Do we have _____ bottles of water in the fridge?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘bottles’ are countable.
19. Are there _____ big storms here in Texas?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘storms’ are countable.
20. We don’t have _____ bread… We need to buy some more.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘bread’ is uncountable.
21. You have so _____ slices of bread on your plate!
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘slices’ are countable.
When we have to count uncountable nouns, we use phrases like:
‘bottles of milk’
‘cups of coffee’
‘bowls of cereal’
22. This department store doesn’t have _____ shops.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘shops’ are countable.
23. I’ve just looked in the kitchen and we don’t have ____ tea left…
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘tea’ is uncountable.
24. We need to go shopping. We don’t have ____ tea bags left.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘bags’ are countable.
25. There isn’t ____ cheese in this sandwich.
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘cheese’ is uncountable.
What is the difference between 'How much' and 'How many'?
We use ‘how much’ when we want to know the quantity or amount of uncountable nouns and ‘how many’ when we want to know the quantity or amount of plural countable nouns :
- How much rice do we have? (Rice is uncountable)
- How much money do you have? (Money is uncountable)
- How many cars does he own? (Cars are countable)
- How many days are in December? (Days are countable)
‘How much’ for prices
We use ‘how much’ when we want to know the price of things.
- How much is this hamburger?
- How much are those cakes?
Exercise 2: 'How much'/ 'How many'
1 . How much ____ that apple?
is / are
✅ is
ℹ️ 1 apple = singular
2. How much ____ those bananas?
is / are
✅ are
ℹ️ lots of bananas = plural
3. How _____ books have you read this month?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘books’ are countable.
4. How _____ money does he earn?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘money’ is uncountable.
5. How _____ equipment do we have?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘equipment’ is uncountable.
6. How _____ packets of crisps have you bought for her party?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘packets’ are countable.
7. How much ___ that jumper?
is / are
✅ is
ℹ️ 1 jumper = singular
8. How much ____ those jumpers?
is / are
✅ are
ℹ️ ‘2 jumpers’ = plural
9. How much ____ a margherita pizza with extra cheese?
is / are
✅ is
ℹ️ 1 pizza = singular
10. How much ____ those ice creams?
is / are
✅ are
ℹ️ ‘2+ ice creams’ = plural
11. How ____ people are going to be at the business conference tonight?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘people’ are countable.
12. How ____ information do you need? I have told you where the hotel is!
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘information’ is uncountable.
13. How _____ bags of shopping did you get when you went to the mall?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘bags’ are countable.
14. She has ____ problems in her life at the moment. I hope she will be ok…
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘problems’ are countable.
15. How _____ bread shall I buy?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘bread’ is uncountable.
16. How much ____ the bread?
is / are
✅ is
ℹ️ ‘bread’ is uncountable. Uncountable nouns are always singular.
17. How much ____ the onions in that shop?
is / are
✅ are
ℹ️ ‘onions‘ = plural
18. How ____ work have you got left to do?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘work’ is uncountable.
19. How _____ pairs of shoes do you need to own? I don’t understand why you have so many…
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘pairs of shoes’ are countable.
20. How _____ is this going to cost?
✅ much
ℹ️ In this example ‘much’ is omitted. This is very common in English conversation:
How much (money) will the food cost?
How much (money) does a Coke cost?
21. How _____ followers do you have on Instagram?
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘followers’ are countable.
22. How _____ orange juice does she drink in the morning?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘juice’ is uncountable.
23. How _____items did he return to the store? If you return too many, they will get annoyed.
✅ many
ℹ️ ‘items’ are countable.
24. How _____ electricity have we got left in the battery?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘electricity’ is uncountable.
25. How _____ luggage are you taking with you on this business trip?
✅ much
ℹ️ ‘luggage’ is uncountable.
