Much, Many, More...

Much

A typical example of much is ‘how much?’ which tells about an uncountable quantity. No one knows how to count the ‘much’. For example

‘Much has been spoken about the topic but without any conclusion.’

How much money do we need?

I finally got the much-needed break.

Many

As opposed to much, many can be used when we can count the numbers.

There are many chapters in this book. How many sides does a square have?

How many rupees do you have? (notice the difference between this sentence and ‘How much money do we need?’)

How many stars are there in the galaxy? (Really, can you count? Oh, well there are millions to start with!) But, because there are finite number of stars, we can’t use much here, because if we do count them, they can be counted.

Many of the members did not attend the party.

More

More is slightly different from both much and many. It means something extra. For example,

I need more exercises for practise. (That means the ones that I have are not sufficient.)

We want more people to join this movement. (The existing number is not enough)

With more people joining, the company is growing at a faster pace.

Much, More, Many

I need many practice exercises. – countable like x number of exercises

I need much practice. – means a lot of, but no exact number and no comparison

I need more practice. – what I am doing currently is not enough

more of, much of, many of

Often, these words are used with the preposition of.

·         I want more of the pancakes. à is same as saying I want more pancakes. But, if someone asks, ‘Which one do you want, pancakes or waffles?’, it can be more appropriate to say more of.

·         Many of my friends did not come to the party – ‘of’ is used here because we are referring to a particular object (friends) or a group. It means same as many friends but is more specific (my friends).

·         Much of the food was wasted because of low turn-out – here again, we are talking about a specific object (food), if we generalise the sentence can be ‘much was wasted (in the event) due to low turn-out’

Too many and Too much

Adding ‘too’ changes the meaning of the sentence –

·         She does much for the family – means she does a lot of things, whereas, ‘She does too much for the family’ means she does more than what is required.

o   Similarly, too much crowd, too much noise, too much dirt – all mean more than required.

·         He is learning many things in school – means he is actually enjoying and learning a lot, but ‘He is learning too many things’ means he is probably learning more than he can grasp and remember.

o   Too many members in a group, too many cars – indicate more than required.

Many more & Much more

Sometimes, more and many are used together for comparison (of countable nouns). For example, “there are many more days left for me to legally become an adult.” This is slightly different from there are many days left – which is just a general statement and not a comparison with a current object.

Peter gave many more ideas than Tom. VS. Peter gave many ideas.

I have many more coins at home than the collection you showed me VS. I have many coins at home.

Same way as many more, much more is used for uncountable nouns.

Ray is much more talented than his brother.

We get much more sunlight in the balcony compared to other rooms.

 
Many a time

You may have seen the usage of many a time, in place of many times. It is a more formal and an old way of saying generally, often or many times.

“Many a time, I have seen her going to the park” IS SAME AS “Many times, I have seen her going to the park.”

Sometimes, people use many a times (time with an s), which is incorrect as we cannot use ‘a’ with plural noun.

Moreover

‘Moreover’ is used to prove a point using additional support statements.

She doesn’t seem to be the right candidate for this job. She is not flexible. Moreover, she has a lot of personal issues.

We should plant more trees. Trees give us fruits and vegetables. Moreover, they help to keep the environment fresh and healthy by absorbing toxic gases.