Wow! It's really interesting. I'm a native English speaker. I never understood why I knew what I know. I find it so fascinating to understand the mechanics of grammar.
Me too. Even more fascinating when we find that the mechanics have broken down and we are just using something because of history or lazy pronunciation or something!
Makes sense. "How many?" / "Too many." Sounds right. "How many?" / "Not many." Sounds right. "How many?" / "Many." Sounds really formal, clunky. And now I've written "many" so many times, I'm questioning if i spelled it correctly. It's stopped looking right anymore.
English is my first language but in a country that speaks multiple languages, 'many' is still used in positive context especially among mandarin speakers who speaks English as a second language. The rules of what sounds natural is different. 😂
True. Discussing what is and isn't 'natural' is a minefield because of this. So note... I am Australian and get most of my English input from British panel shows and US movies nowadays. I freely admit that leaves out a lot of 'Englishes', and while I do try to acknowledge them, I find most of my students want to focus on US and UK varieties of English anyway, so I am guilty of not being inclusive sometimes.
Oh! Be careful, though! My shorts are all focused on spoken English. In essays, it may be better to use 'many' (depending on how formal an essay is required).
Yes. Both sentences are correct. However, in modern spoken English 'a lot of' is much more natural than 'many'. So, if you want to sound formal (& a bit old-fashioned) use 'many'. If you want to sound casual and natural, use 'a lot of'.
Ah! Yes, I tend to eat my feelings too, Isabel 🙂. But that is not venting. Venting = getting your feelings -out-. So complaining to a friend, shouting...these actions are venting.
Nah, they are both correct in every day speech, and while teachers like to think in terms of grammatical rules as being written in stone, in reality, language is fluid and people are going to use whatever sounds the most pleasing to them. The raison dêtre for speaking to one another is to communicate ideas. There isn't a person that I know of who wouldn't understand what you meant if you were to said "There are LOTS OF salads on the menu" or "There are MANY salads on the menu." Either way, goal met -- no teachers' rules needed. Teachers see to enjoy lording grammar rules over folks. General usage constantly evolves as it's used...it's constantly evolving. If anything, grammarian's are the last to catch up with how we use language and then scramble to make rules to try and match usage. Every year we even great new words. Personally I'm working to get rid of the UGH in tho --they're just useless letters. And watch out, LOTS a students....er, MANY students might get of that extra, useless M in grammar just to anoy the gramar teachers! hehe
If you succeed in getting rid of the ugh in though, I will throw a party in your honour. I have no interest in lording grammar rules over anyone. I am interested in pointing out how language is used, and the small differences that can change how people perceive what you mean according to how you use it. I make videos for people learning English as a second language, and it often helps them to get tips such as that if they want to sound 'friendly' and 'casual', they should use phrases like 'a lot of', but if they want to sound formal and maybe a bit old-fashioned, they should use 'many'.
I can't quite see your point. Many is also correct in positive sentences!:Btw - any is usually used in questions! Are there any apples in the fruit bowl?
She said it's correct, just unnatural or formal. And with qustions she meant things like "How many apples are there?" Of course you can still turn any positive sentence into a yes/no question, like "There are a lot of apples" -> "Are there a lot of apples?"
Yes, I agree of course that 'many' is correct in positive sentences. So both of these sentences are correct. The point I was trying to make was that 'mamy' sounds a little stiff and old-fashioned in modern spoken English, and 'a lot of' sounds more natural.
@NEOEnglishwithPam no, it's middle aged person slang you do not understand 😍 High command of the English language and usage is exceedingly attractive. I beg your indulgence; no disrespect is intended.
This is nearly exclusively opinion based and subjective. Many people say it this way vs "a lot of" which sounds like you need 3 words to say the same thing one word does. A lot of screams lower vocabulary and less education/class.
Pot-ay-to, po-tah-to. I think 'a lot of' sounds modern and natural. I would never use it in an academic essay, but I think it sounds more appropriate for spoken English. But if you prefer a more formal persona, then 'many' is fine. I am not a prescriptivist!
Just throwing my knowledge out into the void, Ted... Am actually trying to teach English as a Second Language to adult learners who want to focus on spoken English. Why?
😅 In modern English even yo mamma gonna just use further. But centuries ago when I was young, we said 'fatther' for physical distances and 'further' for ideas ( 'Let's discuss this further').
You are right that this is not super-important. You can use 'many' and people will understand. But some students like to know these small differences in how words are used.
