While listening to a guest on a live TV programme on a particular station, I was surprised to hear the speaker mistakenly use ‘much’ for people. This inspired today’s lesson. Isn’t it confusing to realize that this common error has been popularized by many English users and almost institutionalized? I corrected most of the UTME candidates I taught in January before they stopped using it incorrectly. I remember their reactions after I explained that it is ungrammatical.
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary explains that ‘many’ is typically used in negative positions as a determiner in more formal English. It means ‘a large number of’ and is used to discuss the size of a number with words like ‘as’, ‘too’, and ‘so’. According to Grammarly’s article on this topic, ‘much’ is a quantifier always used with singular uncountable nouns, while ‘many’, which is also a quantifier, can be used with plural nouns.
Below are the example sentences extracted from the dictionary:
You can’t have one each. We haven’t got many.
Many people feel that the law should be changed.
How many children do you have?
There are too many mistakes in this essay.
New drivers have twice as many accidents as experienced drivers.
For a comprehensive understanding, study the following sentence examples:
We could not travel to the host country for the conference because we did not earn much money last year.
When the children returned to school in the first week, there wasn’t much to do.
How much is your exotic car?
Because of the insults hurled at us by the designer, we decided not to refer him to other members.
“A lot” or “Lots”?
A member of English TV, a platform on WhatsApp used for teaching the language in a simple manner, asked, “Sam, does the word “lots” and the phrase “a lot” mean the same? How can we use them flawlessly?” I replied affirmatively, “Yes, they can be used interchangeably.” I also took the time, despite my busy schedule, to explain how to use them.
For example, A lot of lecturers resigned and traveled to the United States of America for greener pastures due to the government’s indifference.
Each of them can also be used as an adverb, as in “I have been reading a lot’.” However, it is important to note that ‘a lot’ is informal, while ‘lots’ is even more informal. With these detailed examples, there is no need to be perplexed by their use in your writing and speaking engagements.
When exactly can you use ‘alot’?
Well, sound English speakers don’t write ‘a’ and lot’ together. Therefore, it is a misspelling that should not be mistakenly used in writing. Avoid it like the plague!
Allot?
This word means ‘dividing something’ into portions or ‘assigning tasks’. Below is an example sentence from the Oxford Dictionary:
Each candidate was allotted five minutes to make a presentation in front of the judges.
It is also crucial to note that both ‘much’ and ‘many’ are sometimes used with the preposition ‘of’.
Examples:
Many of the politicians are corrupt and insensitive to the plight of the masses.
Much of the chairman’s speech regarding the last situation report was inflammatory.
Much of the news these days is centered on the degrading level of the quality of education in Nigerian institutions.
‘Sufferness’ is not a word in English. Instead of using it, ‘suffering’ is preferable.
The sufferness the masses faced between Janurary and March was too much. (Wrong)
The suffering the masses faced between January and March was too much. (Correct)
‘Toward’ and ‘Towards’
‘Towards’ is a British word, while ‘toward’ is an American word.
In British English, ‘Dr’, ‘Mr’, and ‘Mrs’ are all written without periods.
Dr Samson teaches English at the secondary school.
Dr Bola is a lecturer at the University of Lagos.
The names of those who answered the last questions correctly are: Bello Sulaimon, Adaeze Beauty, Bolanle Olusola, Eze Jeremiah, Edi Isreal, Adesina Rofiat, Jerry Solomon, Adekola Adejare, John Phillip, Sultan Musa, Johnson Blessing, Olive Alimi, Jimoh Barakat and Adewake Adegbare, Yahyah Aishat, John Solomon, Yakub Abigail, Rasheed Fatah, Babatunde Esther, Adebayo Bukola, Olalomirin Pelumi, Adeyemi Abigael, Adeniji Micheal, Abdullahi Nuhu, Okere Chigozie, and Ahmed Roqeeb.
Assignment
Attempt the following questions:
Was there ______ water in the hostel when you arrived? (a) a lot of (b) many (c) few
_______ people complain bitterly about the unstable economy. (a) little (b) a little (c) many
One of the following is non-existent in English. (a) a lot (b) lots (c) a lot
Kindly forward your answers to tolulopesamuelalimi@gmail.com or 07049203179 via SMS.
