Page 186 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
87 much, many, little, few, a lot, plenty

A We use much and little with uncountable nouns:
much luck much time little energy little money
We use many and few with plural nouns:
many friends many people few cars few children
We use a lot of / lots of / plenty of with both uncountable and plural nouns:
a lot of luck lots of time plenty of money
a lot of friends lots of people plenty of ideas

plenty = more than enough:
There’s no need to hurry. We’ve got plenty of time.
There’s plenty to do in this town.

B Much is unusual in positive sentences (especially in spoken English). Compare:
We didn’t spend much money. but We spent a lot of money.
Do you see David much? but I see David a lot.
But we use too much / so much / as much in positive sentences:
We spent too much money.
We use many and a lot of in all kinds of sentences:
Many people drive too fast. or A lot of people drive too fast.
Do you know many people? or Do you know a lot of people?
There aren’t many tourists here. or There aren’t a lot of tourists here.
Note that we say many years / many weeks / many days:
We’ve lived here for many years. (not usually a lot of years)

C little = not much, few = not many:
Gary is very busy with his job. He has little time for other things.
(= not much time, less time than he would like)
Vicky doesn’t like living in London. She has few friends there.
(= not many friends, not as many as she would like)
We often use very little and very few:
Gary has very little time for other things.
Vicky has very few friends in London.

D a little = some, a small amount:
Let’s go and have coffee. We have a little time before the train leaves.
(a little time = some time, enough time to have a coffee)
‘Do you speak English?’ ‘A little.’ (so we can talk a bit)

a few = some, a small number:
I enjoy my life here. I have a few friends and we meet quite often.
(a few friends = not many, but enough to have a good time)
‘When was the last time you saw Clare?’ ‘A few days ago.’ (= 3 or 4 days ago)

E Compare little and a little, few and a few:
He spoke little English, so it was difficult to communicate with him.
He spoke a little English, so we were able to communicate with him.
She’s lucky. She has few problems. (= not many problems)
Things are not going so well for her. She has a few problems. (= some problems)
We say only a little (not only little) and only a few (not only few):
Hurry! We only have a little time. (= some, but not much time)
The village was small. There were only a few houses. (= some but not many houses)

174 Countable and uncountable ➜ Units 69–70