2 Complete the sentences with how much, how many, much, many or a lot. 1 A: How much water do you drink during the day? B: Not much. Maybe two glasses. 2 A: money do you have on you? B: I just got paid. 3 A: ... times do you eat per day? B: Not I have two light snacks and a regular meal for dinner. 4 A: children are there in the school play? B: ... At least 50. 5 A: .. did your trousers cost? B: Not They were only €15. 6 A: Have you got ... work to do? B: No, not We can go shopping together if you like.
B: Not much. Maybe two glasses.
In this sentence, we use "how much" because we are asking about the quantity of water, which is uncountable. The response "Not much" indicates a small quantity, and "two glasses" gives a specific amount as an example.
2 A: How much money do you have on you?
B: I just got paid.
In this sentence, we also use "how much" because we are asking about the amount of money, which is uncountable. The response "I just got paid" indicates that the person has received money, but doesn't mention the specific amount.
3 A: How many times do you eat per day?
B: Not many. I have two light snacks and a regular meal for dinner.
Here, we use "how many" because we are asking about the number of times, which is countable. The response "Not many" indicates a small number, and the person mentions having "two light snacks and a regular meal for dinner" as examples.
4 A: How many children are there in the school play?
B: ... At least 50.
Again, we use "how many" because we are asking about the number of children, which is countable. The response "... At least 50" indicates that there are at least 50 children in the school play.
5 A: How much did your trousers cost?
B: Not much. They were only €15.
In this sentence, we use "how much" because we are asking about the cost of the trousers, which is uncountable. The response "Not much" indicates a low cost, and "€15" gives the specific price.
6 A: Have you got much work to do?
B: No, not much. We can go shopping together if you like.
Here, we use "much" because we are asking about the amount of work, which is uncountable. The response "No, not much" indicates a small amount of work. The phrase "We can go shopping together if you like" implies that the person doesn't have a lot of work to do and is available for other activities.
Overall, the use of "how much" and "how many" depends on whether we are asking about a quantity or a number, and whether the noun is countable or uncountable. Using the correct form helps us communicate the specific information we are looking for.