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Study in the app →English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 35
How much do you eat?
Dialogue
many water or much water?
- Emma Minsu, do you drink a lot of water?
- Minsu Yes, I drink many water and I eat much apples.
- Emma Swap them: water is uncountable, so "much water"; apples are countable, so "many apples".
- Minsu I see — I drink much water and I eat many apples.
- Emma Perfect! And "a lot of" is easy — it works for both: a lot of water, a lot of apples.
- Minsu Great, that's easier! I have a lot of homework tonight, though.
Dialogue
Shopping for dinner
- Minsu Emma, what do we need for dinner?
- Emma We need some fish, a lot of vegetables, and a little rice.
- Minsu How many eggs should we buy?
- Emma Six eggs, please. And we don't have much milk, so buy some.
- Minsu Got it. How much bread do you want?
- Emma Just one loaf. That's a lot of food — let's cook a great dinner!
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| food | n. (uncount.) | food | |
| meat | n. (uncount.) | meat | |
| fish | n. (uncount.) | fish | |
| rice | n. (uncount.) | rice | |
| bread | n. (uncount.) | bread | |
| water | n. (uncount.) | water | |
| milk | n. (uncount.) | milk | |
| sugar | n. (uncount.) | sugar | |
| egg | n. (count.) | egg | |
| vegetable | n. (count.) | vegetable | |
| fruit | n. (uncount.) | fruit |
Grammar
much, many, a lot of much, many, a lot of
In English, nouns come in two kinds. Countable nouns are things you can count one by one — an egg, two eggs, three apples; they can be plural. Uncountable nouns are seen as a mass you cannot count singly — water, rice, bread, milk, sugar, meat; they have NO plural (not "waters", not "breads"). This matters for "how much". With countable nouns use "many" and "How many?": "many eggs", "How many apples?". With uncountable nouns use "much" and "How much?": "much water", "How much sugar?". The easy friend is "a lot of" (or "lots of"), which works with BOTH: "a lot of eggs", "a lot of water". Korean has no plural marking and no count/non-count split, so learners mix them: "many water" ✗, "much apples" ✗ → "much water", "many apples" ✓.
In English, nouns come in two kinds. Countable nouns are things you can count one by one — an egg, two eggs, three apples; they can be plural. Uncountable nouns are seen as a mass you cannot count singly — water, rice, bread, milk, sugar, meat; they have NO plural (not "waters", not "breads"). This matters for "how much". With countable nouns use "many" and "How many?": "many eggs", "How many apples?". With uncountable nouns use "much" and "How much?": "much water", "How much sugar?". The easy friend is "a lot of" (or "lots of"), which works with BOTH: "a lot of eggs", "a lot of water". Korean has no plural marking and no count/non-count split, so learners mix them: "many water" ✗, "much apples" ✗ → "much water", "many apples" ✓.
- I eat a lot of vegetables and not much meat. I eat a lot of vegetables and not much meat.
- How many eggs do you want? — Two, please. How many eggs do you want? — Two, please.
- How much water do you drink every day? How much water do you drink every day?
- There isn't much bread, but there are lots of apples. There isn't much bread, but there are lots of apples.
pronunciation
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