You use "how many" when you are talking about countable objects or specific quantities. If I asked you "how many", you would be able to respond with a specific number.
"How many apples did you buy at the store?" (You can count "apples" specifically, without using another word)
"I bought a dozen." (A dozen = 12. It is a specific number or quantity)
"I bought five." (Five is also a specific amount)
For certain words, like "shoes", you can count shoes individually, but it is more natural to use another countable word to help.
"How many pairs of shoes do you own?"
"I own six pairs of sneakers and two pairs of flip-flops."
If you just asked "How many shoes do you own?", it seems like you want to know how many individual shoes the listener owns (which would be 16 in this case). Since two shoes should always go together, you refer to them as a "pair" and count them as one unit.
You use "how much" when you are talking about uncountable objects or vague amounts. If I asked you "how much", you would probably give me a general answer.
For money, "dollars" and "quarters" are, for example, countable. However, "money" is not. You can't say "I have 5 money." You would use a unit for counting currency after the number. "I have 5 dollars."
"How much money do you have?" (Money itself can't be counted. Money is represented by other nouns - dollars, pesos, euros, won, yen, etc)
"I have a lot." (General answer - "a lot" refers to a vague amount)
"I have twenty dollars with me right now." (Using a countable unit of currency to measure the specific amount of money)
"I have twenty money." INCORRECT (You can't count money without using a countable word to represent money)
"much" goes with singular nouns. When you use "much", you are talking about an amount of something. (Notice that "an amount" is singular.) Do not use it with plural countable nouns. Instead, use "many".
The easiest definition of "how much" to think of is "what amount or price". "Much" represents an amount.
(See also: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/much and http://www.thefreedictionary.com/how+much)
"How much coffee would you like to drink?"
(The meaning is "What (is the) amount of coffee you would like to drink?")
Possible answer: "I would like a full mug of coffee to drink, please."
"How much does a pound of grapes cost?"
(The meaning is "What (is the) amount of money needed to pay for a pound of grapes?")
Possible answer: "A pound of grapes will set you back about $10."
"How much did you pay for your new car?"
(The meaning is "What (is the) amount of money you paid for your new car?")
Possible answer: "I paid too much, that's for sure. I think I bought a lemon."
"How much did the total come out to be?"
(The meaning is "What is the final cost?" or "What is the total?")(**These sentences sound natural and can be used in writing and conversation.)
Possible answer: "Your total for the stay comes out to be $1200."
"How much longer do we have to wait for the doctor?"
(The meaning is "What is the amount of time past now that we need to wait for the doctor?")
Possible answer: "It should only be another twenty minutes or so.")
"How much money does he owe the IRS?"
(The meaning is "What is the amount of money that he owes to IRS?"
Possible answer: "I heard he owes thousand of dollars in back taxes.")
"How much does your cat weigh?"
(The meaning is "What is the amount of weight your cat possesses?")
Possible answer: "My cat is the fattest cat you'll ever see. He weighs twenty pounds!")
The sentences in parenthesis show the meaning. They are not very natural to use in conversation or writing.
This group in orange is a little different. Instead of "much" representing an amount, it represents "a degree/extent".
"How much do you care about learning English?"
(The meaning is "To what degree/extent do you care about learning English?")
Possible answer: "More than you know."
"You have no idea how much I want this job."
(The meaning is "I want this job A LOT." or "I want this job to such a great extent, you wouldn't believe it.") (Another, natural way to express wanting the job a lot is "You have no idea how badly I want this job.")
Possible response: "I understand how you feel. When I was out of work for a while there, my family was hurting pretty badly."
Don't say "how much" when you mean "what".
"How much is the price of that?" INCORRECT (This sentence would be asking for the price of the price. Doesn't make any sense, right?)
"How much is that?" CORRECT
"How much does that cost?" CORRECT
"What is the price of that?" CORRECT
I have bolded certain words in the <em>example sentences</em> (in the possible answers) to emphasize that those bolded words are the words answering "how much". Those bolded words show the amount, degree, or extent of something. They directly answer the question. In fact, you could say only the bolded words in response to the question and it would make perfect sense and sound quite natural.
Please, help me!
WHEN I USED "HOW MUCH" AND WHEN I USED "HOW MANY"?
