Q: How many apples are there?

A: There are many apples in this picture.

Q: How many chairs are there?

A: There are two chairs.

Q: How many bees are there?

A: Hundreds. Maybe thousands!

Q: How many apples are there in this picture?

A: There is only one apple.

Q: How many men are in this picture?

A: There aren't any. There is only one woman.

Q: How much fruit is there?

A: There's a lot of fruit.

Q: How much water is in the glass?

A: It's almost full. There's a lot of water in the glass.

Q: How much traffic is there this morning?

A: There's a lot of traffic. The cars aren't moving very fast.

Q: How much fishing does he do?

A: He does a lot of fishing on the weekend.

Q: How much beer is there in his glass?

A: There isn't any. It's all gone.

car

apple

machine

fact

chair

dollar

minute

(Only use an article with these: a or the)

cars

apples

machines

facts

chairs

dollars

minutes

(These plural count nouns use "many")

traffic

fruit

machinery

information

furniture

money

time

(These use "much")

It's important to understand the difference between noncount and count nouns when using many and much. Noncount nouns are often used to describe large categories while count nouns are usually more specific.

Examples:

• There is a car in the street. (singular count noun)

• Question: How many cars are in the street?
• Answer: There are a few cars in the street (plural count noun)

• Question: How much traffic is there?
• Answer: There is a lot of traffic. (noncount noun)

Noncount nouns always use a singular verb. Count nouns are singular or plural.

Much and Many are usually used with the negative:

Examples:

• There aren't many students in the classroom. (perhaps 4 or 5 students)
• There isn't much food in the refrigerator. ( a small amount of food)

Any + not, never, or without expresses zero:

Examples:

• There aren't any students in the classroom (zero)
• There isn't any food in the refrigerator. It's empty.
• He went outside without any shoes. (There are no shoes on his feet.)
• They never want to eat any vegetables or drink any milk.

Much and Many are usually not used in the affirmative:

Examples:

• There are many apples in the basket. It sounds better to say...
• There are a lot of apples in the basket.

• There is much milk in the refrigerator. It sounds better to say...
• There is a lot of milk in the refrigerator.