Wind
how much do you weigh vs how many do you weigh how much do you weigh I know we shouldn't say "how many do you weigh", but is there a reason? Is "much" a pronoun or an adverb here? Thanks.
Dec 16, 2014 4:04 AM
Answers · 4
3
OK, here we go... haha Deciding to use "many" or "much" has to do with whether the noun is countable or not. Weight is uncountable. You can't say one weight, two weights, three weights, etc. (unless you're talking about a gym, haha) Pounds are countable. One pound, two pounds, three pounds, etc. Much is used with uncountable nouns. Many is used with countable nouns. How much weight. How many pounds. Money = uncountable. How much money. Dollars = countable. How many dollars. The tricky part is that when you say "How much do you weigh?", you could be talking about weight or you could be talking about pounds. Similarly, with money, you could ask "How much money do you have?", you could be talking about money or dollars. How much (weight) do you weigh? (we would never actually use "weight" in this sentence) How many (pounds) do you weight? (we would always use the word "pounds" in this sentence) So technically, they are both correct. However, in real life, we always ask the former. How much (money) do you have? How many (dollars) do you have? Both of those are correct and used regularly when discussing money. I have ten dollars, how much do you have? (good) I have ten dollars, how many do you have? (good) I weigh 180 pounds, how much do you weigh? (good) I weigh 180 pounds, how many do you weigh? (technically ok, but we never say this) Whew!
December 16, 2014
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!