Shawn
Community Tutor
Simplifying Grammar In American English : Much More Versus Many More

Several people on here have asked me questions about when to use "much more" and "many more" in English. The short answer to this is that you have to use "much more" when you are speaking about mass nouns (like water, sugar, etc.) and "many more" when you are speaking about non-mass nouns (like dogs, cats, etc.). Some examples:

 

1. There are many more people living in Sunderland, Massachusetts than there are in Heath, Massachusetts.

* with a non-mass noun

 

2. There is much more snow in my backyard than there is on campus.

* with a mass noun

 

These two phrase are formal though and there is a way to simplify this in formal speech so you don't have to ask yourself whether a noun is a mass noun or a non-mass noun. In fact, this is the way that most Americans say it. So it is the most natural way as well. The trick here is to use a phrase like "a lot more", "considerably more", "far more", etc. since these phrases can be used with both mass and non-mass nouns.

 

1. There are a lot more people living in Sunderland, MA than there are in Heath, MA.

= There are far more people living in Sunderland, MA than there are in Heath, MA.

= There are considerably more people living in Sunderland, MA than there are in Heath, MA.

= There are many more people living in Sunderland, MA than there are in Heath, MA.

* with a non-mass noun

 

2. There is a lot more snow in my backyard than there is on campus.

= There is far more snow in my backyard than there is on campus.

= There is considerably more snow in my backyard than there is on campus.

= There is much more snow in my backyard than there is on campus.

* with a non-mass noun

 

This can also be done with the words many and much to a certain extent with the phrases "a lot" and "a lot of". For instance,

 

1. Many people camp out at D.A.R. State Forest in Goshen, Massachusetts in the summer.

= A lot of people camp out at D.A.R. State Forest in Goshen, Massachusetts in the summer.

 

2. Keith has many friends.

= Keith has a lot of friends.

 

3. How much coffee do you have? -- I don't have much left.

= How much coffee do you have? -- I don't have a lot left.


4. How many puppies do you have for sale? -- I don't have many left.

= How many puppies do you have for sale? -- I don't have a lot left.

 

5. I never used to drink much coffee until I moved to Boston.

= I never used to drink a lot of coffee until I moved to Boston.

 

6. I never used to buy many ebooks until I purchased a tablet PC.

= I never used to buy a lot of ebooks until I purchased a tablet PC.

 

May 8, 2014 2:50 PM
Comments · 1

Thank you.

May 9, 2014