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Study in the app →English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 35
How much do you eat? ¿Cuánto comes?
Hablar de comida y cantidades. Vocabulario: food, meat, fish, rice, bread, water, milk, sugar, egg, vegetable, fruit. Gramática clave: algunos sustantivos se pueden contar (eggs, apples, vegetables) y otros no (water, rice, bread, milk, sugar). Los contables tienen plural y usan "many" y "How many?": "many eggs". Los incontables no tienen plural y usan "much" y "How much?": "much water". "A lot of" y "lots of" valen para ambos. El coreano no marca plurales ni separa contable de incontable, así que los estudiantes coreanos los mezclan: "many water" ✗ y "much apples" ✗ → "much water", "many apples" (o "a lot of" para cualquiera). Rincón de pronunciación: los sonidos /ʃ/ en "sugar", "fish", "delicious".
Dialogue
many water or much water? — ¿many water o much water?
- Emma Minsu, do you drink a lot of water? Minsu, ¿bebes mucha agua?
- Minsu Yes, I drink many water and I eat much apples. Sí, bebo many agua y como much manzanas. (desliz: water es incontable → "much water"; apples es contable → "many apples")
- Emma Swap them: water is uncountable, so "much water"; apples are countable, so "many apples". Cámbialos: water es incontable, así que "much water"; apples es contable, así que "many apples".
- Minsu I see — I drink much water and I eat many apples. Ya veo — bebo mucha agua y como muchas manzanas.
- Emma Perfect! And "a lot of" is easy — it works for both: a lot of water, a lot of apples. ¡Perfecto! "a lot of" es fácil — vale para ambos: a lot of water, a lot of apples.
- Minsu Great, that's easier! I have a lot of homework tonight, though. ¡Genial, es más fácil! Aunque esta noche tengo muchos deberes.
Dialogue
Shopping for dinner — Compras para la cena
- Minsu Emma, what do we need for dinner? Emma, ¿qué necesitamos para la cena?
- Emma We need some fish, a lot of vegetables, and a little rice. Necesitamos algo de pescado, muchas verduras y un poco de arroz.
- Minsu How many eggs should we buy? ¿Cuántos huevos compramos?
- Emma Six eggs, please. And we don't have much milk, so buy some. Seis huevos, por favor. Y no tenemos mucha leche, así que compra un poco.
- Minsu Got it. How much bread do you want? Vale. ¿Cuánto pan quieres?
- Emma Just one loaf. That's a lot of food — let's cook a great dinner! Solo una barra. ¡Es mucha comida — cocinemos una gran cena!
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| food | n. (uncount.) | comida | |
| meat | n. (uncount.) | carne | |
| fish | n. (uncount.) | pescado | |
| rice | n. (uncount.) | arroz | |
| bread | n. (uncount.) | pan | |
| water | n. (uncount.) | agua | |
| milk | n. (uncount.) | leche | |
| sugar | n. (uncount.) | azúcar | |
| egg | n. (count.) | huevo | |
| vegetable | n. (count.) | verdura | |
| fruit | n. (uncount.) | fruta |
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" ✓.
En inglés los sustantivos son de dos tipos. Los contables son cosas que puedes contar una a una — an egg, two eggs, three apples; tienen plural. Los incontables se ven como una masa que no puedes contar por unidades — water, rice, bread, milk, sugar, meat; NO tienen plural (no "waters", no "breads"). Esto importa para "cuánto". Con contables usa "many" y "How many?": "many eggs", "How many apples?". Con incontables usa "much" y "How much?": "much water", "How much sugar?". El amigo fácil es "a lot of" (o "lots of"), que vale para AMBOS: "a lot of eggs", "a lot of water". El coreano no marca plurales ni separa contable de incontable, así que los estudiantes los mezclan: "many water" ✗, "much apples" ✗ → "much water", "many apples" ✓.
- I eat a lot of vegetables and not much meat. Como muchas verduras y no mucha carne.
- How many eggs do you want? — Two, please. ¿Cuántos huevos quieres? — Dos, por favor.
- How much water do you drink every day? ¿Cuánta agua bebes cada día?
- There isn't much bread, but there are lots of apples. No hay mucho pan, pero hay muchas manzanas.
pronunciation
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