Lesson # a1207  -----  keyword: much

How much? How many?: Countable/Uncountable nouns

(see also lessons: thrz, men, the, howbig, any)

UNCOUNTABLE:
(so much, too much)

(spoonful, teaspoon, drop, quart, gallon, tad, smidgeon, bit, mite)

COUNTABLE:
(each, enough, so many, too many, most, all, both, neither, several)

(couple, pair, dozen, million, several, stack, herd, school, gang, flock, group, crowd)

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE:
(each, enough, most, all)

(box, boxful, fistful, handful, ounce, pound, ton, eyeful, earful, ton, bunch,
mountain, pile, heap(s), truckload, cartload, shipload)

VOCABULARY:

a few, a little, a lot of, enough, few, little, loads of, lots of, many, much,
no, plenty of, some, tons of, too

	>> All nouns are either countable or uncountable:

-There are a few birds in the garden.		birds	=	countable
-There is a little water on the table.		water	=	uncountable

	>> We do not say:

-XXX There is a little birds in the garden.
-XXX There are a few waters on the table.

	>> Countable nouns use the singular and the plural:

-That is a book.
-Those are books.

	>> Uncountable nouns use only the singular: 

-There is time.
-That is money.

	>> Uncountable nouns do not use the articles "a" and "an".

ADJECTIVES OF QUANTITY:

	COUNTABLE:
	How many?

few		a few		many

	UNCOUNTABLE:
	How much?

little		a little	much


	COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE:
	How many? or How much?

no	some	enough		lots of
		plenty of	tons of
				loads of


	>> "Enough" expresses quantity relative to requirement:

-How much money is there?
	There is fifty dollars.
-Is it enough money to buy a car?
	No, it is not enough.
-How many football players are there?
	There are eleven.
-Are eleven players enough to play a game?
	Yes, they are enough.

	>> "Too few", "too little", "too many" and "too much" indicate a greater
or lesser quantity than the requirement:

-How much money is there?
	There is fifty dollars.
-Is it enough money to buy a car?
	No, it is too little.

-How many football players are there?
	There are seventy five.
-Are seventy five players enough to play a game?
	Yes, there are enough. In fact, there are too many.

	>> We use "many" and "much" in the negative:

-Is there some milk in the refrigerator?
	No, there is not much.
	or:
	There is little.
-Are there many people on the beach?
	No, there are not many.
	or:
	There are few.

SOME UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:

	UNCOUNTABLE:
air, art, beer, bread, butter, coffee, cold, dirt, fire, food, heat, milk, music,
oxygen, paper, plastic, rain, skin, space, sugar, sun, tea, water, wind, wine, wood, wool

	COLLECTIVE:
furniture, hair, literature, luggage, money, silverware

	ABSTRACT:
desire, English, football, freedom, German, hate, intelligence, liberty, love, news,
pain, tennis, time, work

SOME COUNTABLE NOUNS:

bird, book, car, child, cigarette, dog, film, house, idea, jacket, man, mountain,
pipe, plate, river, shoe, table, thought, window

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:

	>> Some nouns are countable AND uncountable. It depends on the meaning:

-There isn't much perfume left in the bottle.			UNCOUNTABLE
-There are many expensive perfumes.				COUNTABLE
-There is little time before the show.				UNCOUNTABLE
-The show is at three different times: 8:00, 10:00 and 12:00.	COUNTABLE
-There is a little wine in the bottle.				UNCOUNTABLE
-French wines are the most expensive.				COUNTABLE

EXAMPLES:

	COUNTABLE:
-There are too many car accidents each year.
-There are not many people who can speak Basque well.
-There are few people who can speak Basque well.
-How many mountains are there in Tibet?
	There are very many.
-How many elephants are there in England?
	There are very few.
	or:
	There are not many.
-How many cigarettes are there?
	There are no cigarettes.
	or:
	There are none.
-Are there enough chairs for the party?
	No, there aren't enough chairs.
	or:
	No, there are too few chairs.
-Are there many brilliant scientists at your university?
	Yes, there are a lot.
	or:
	Yes, there are many.
	or:
	No, there aren't many.
	or:
	No, there are few.

	UNCOUNTABLE:
-It's a little windy tonight.
-There is much work to do.
-There is too much work to do.
-There is not enough milk for the recipe.
-There is not much rain this year.
-How much freedom is there in Italy?
	There is a lot of freedom, but it's not enough.
-How much furniture is there in your house?
	There is not much furniture.
	or:
	There is little furniture.
-Is there enough food for the party?
	There is enough.
	or:
	There is not enough.
	or:
	There is too little.
-Is there enough time to take a shower before dinner?
	Yes, there's plenty of time.
	or:
	Yes, there's enough time.	
	or:
	No, there's not much time.
	or:
	No, there's little time.
	or:
	No, there's not enough time.
	or:
	No, there's too little time.

EXERCISES:
too, enough, how many/much, not many much, little much, few many,
answers, questions, blank

	>> Answer the following questions:

0.	How many people are there in the Sahara Desert?
		There are not many.
		or:
		There are few.
1.	How many exercises are there in this lesson?
2.	How much time is there before the new year?
3.	How many fish are there in the sea?
4.	How much memory is in your computer?
5.	Is a kilogram of sugar enough to make a cake?
6.	Is twenty dollars enough to buy an airplane ticket?
7.	Are five people enough to play a game of chess?
8.	Are there many people who speak Latin?
9.	Are there many unemployed people in Europe?
10.	Are there enough doctors in Italy?

	>> Fill in the blanks:

0.	How many books are there in the library?
		There are _______.
			-- many, a lot, a ton, loads
11.	Is there ______ hot water to wash the dishes?
12.	Are there enough teachers in the school?
		No, there are _______.
13.	How much rain is there in India?
		There is ______ rain.
14.	Is there much traffic in Sao Paolo?
		Yes, there is ______ much!
15.	Is there ______ poverty in Switzerland?
16.	Are there ______ baseball fans in Taiwan?
17.	How ______ kinds of insect are there in the world?
18.	How ______ tourism is there in Australia?
19.	How ______ tourists are there in Thailand?
20.	Is fifty dollars ______ to buy a liter of water?
		Yes! It is too ______.

	>> Make questions for the following answers:

0.	How many tigers are there in Africa?
		There are no tigers in Africa.
21.		No, there is too little gas in the car.
22.		No, there aren't enough hours in the day.
23.		There are many many diseases.
24.		It is too much for me.
25.		There are too few rooms for the business convention.
26.		There are a lot of employees in the company.
27.		No, there are no people with two mothers.
28.		Yes, there is a ton of salt in the ocean.
29.		No, there is no person who is 250 years old.
30.		No, there are too few saints in the world.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO THE EXERCISES:

1.	There are too many exercises in this lesson.
2.	There is not much time before the new year.
3.	There are many fish in the sea.
4.	There is a lot of memory in my computer.
5.	A kilogram of sugar is too much to make a cake.
6.	Twenty dollars is not enough to buy an airplane ticket.
7.	Five people are too many to play a game of chess.
8.	There are no people who speak Latin.
9.	There are too many unemployed people in Europe.
10.	There are too many doctors in Italy.
11.	enough
12.	not enough, too few
13.	a lot, a ton, too much
14.	too, very
15.	much
16.	many
17.	many
18.	much
19.	many
20.	enough -- much
21.	Is there enough gas in the car to go to the city?
22.	Are there enough hours in the day?
23.	How many diseases are there in the world?
24.	How much is an airplane ticket around the world?
25.	How many rooms are there in the hotel?
26.	How many employees are there in the company?
27.	Are there many people with two mothers?
28.	Is there salt in the ocean?
29.	Is there a person who is 250 years old?
30.	Are there enough saints in the world?