¿Cuál es la diferencia entre "too much" y "too many"?

 Too much: [tumach] Se usa para sustantivos incontables. Por ejemplo; el agua,
el dinero (No los billetes, ni las monedas, sino la masa de dinero), el aire, ciertos
alimentos como la leche, etc.

Ejemplo: He has too much money. [Hihastumach mani] Él tiene demasiado

dinero. Incorrecto decir : too many porque "money" is incontable.

 Too many: [tumeni]Se usa para sustantivos contables. Por ejemplo: lápices,
monedas, mesas, sillas, etc.

Ejemplo: There are too many chairs in this room. [der

artumneichersInthisrum].Hay demasiadas sillas en esta habitación.

 Too much/many significan lo mismo: demasiado.

Consejo: Si te resulta difícil saber cuándo usar "much" o "many", lo mejor es decir
"a lot" o "a lot of" , así nunca te equivocarás.

Por ejemplo: She didn't drink a lot of milk. [Shididn't drinkalotofmilk]. Ella no
bebió mucha leche. ¡OJO!: No se puede utilizar "a lot" o "a lot of" como demasiado.
Por tanto no se puede decir: too a lot

little / few and a little / a few

Little is used with uncountable and few is used with countable nouns. When we use few and little
without the indefinite article, they usually have a negative meaning, but when we use them with
the indefinite article, a little or a few, they have a more positive meaning. Compare the following:

1
I have few friends in England and I feel quite lonely.

I have a few friends in England, so I don't miss home so much.

I have little interest in classical music. I much prefer pop.

I have a little wine in the cellar. Would you like some?

Rather than little or few, we sometimes prefer to use a negative construction with much or many
in conversational English, as it sounds slightly less formal:

He has little money. > He doesn't have very much money.

She had few friends. > She didn't have many friends.

a little / a bit

A little, a bit and a little bit are often used as adverbs in colloquial British English with little or no
difference in meaning. Compare the following:

You're driving too fast. Could you please drive a little (bit) more slowly?

It was a long journey and I was feeling a bit / a little (bit) tired.

Bit can also combine with of before nouns to suggest a limited amount of something. Compare the
following:

Let me give you a bit of advice. Don't drive so fast in built-up areas.

I'm not very hungry after the journey. I'll just have a bit of bread and cheese.

I've got a bit of a problem. The car has overheated, so we'll have to wait for it to cool down.

If we use it with a determiner or pronoun, little can also be used in this way:

Would you like to try a bit of this / a little of this very sweet dessert?

I'd love a bit of your / a little of your apple and walnut cake. It looks and smells delicious.

2
 fewer / less

Fewer and less are the comparative forms of few and little and are used with countable and
uncountable nouns, respectively. Compare the following:

I've got a little (bit of) money in the bank. Not very much. Less than I had last year.

The weather was awful and fewer children took part in the procession this year.

too much / too many

Much and many can be used as an alternative to a lot of. Much is used with singular nouns and
many is used with plural nouns. They can be used without nouns if the meaning is clear. Too
expresses the idea of more than enough or more than necessary. Compare the following:

There were many / a lot of people in the dining room, but there wasn't very much / a lot of food
left on the breakfast buffet tables.

I haven't eaten very much! ~ You've eaten far too much in my view. Much too much.

I had put too much salt in the soup and nobody ate it.

too or very

Make sure you can distinguish between too and very. Learners of English often confuse these two
adverbs. Very means extremely and too means more than is wanted. Too is often followed by
adjective + infinitive clause. Compare the following:

The maths problem was very difficult. It was too difficult for me to solve.

We arrived at the hotel very late - too late to have dinner there.

The lake was very muddy. It was too muddy to swim in.

A pity! It was perfect weather for swimming. Not too hot.

3
 as much / many as

We can use as much / many as when we are talking about quantity and want to compare things or
people that are more or less equal. Much and many can be used in this way as determiners or
pronouns or as an adverb in the case of many. Compare the following:

Share prices were falling and she didn't have as much money as she thought she had.

She won't be able to buy as many clothes this year as she bought last year.

The breakfast buffet at the hotel was great. You could eat as much as you wanted.

Would you like some strawberries with your cereal? Take as many as you like.

I don't expect you to finish the report. Just do as much as you can this evening.

You can criticise my lifestyle as much as you like. But it's my life!

A LOT / MUCH / MANY (MUCHO/A; MUCHOS/AS)

Incontables:

 Afirmativa: “a lot”. There is a lot of sugar in my coffee

 Negativa: “ much”. I haven’t got much time
 Interrogativa: “ much”. Do we need much milk for the recipe?

Contables:

 Afirmativa “a lot” . There are a lot of students

 Negativa “many “. I haven’t many problems
 Interrogativa “many”. Have you got many glasses?

ENOUGH / TOO MUCH / TOO MANY

Enough _____ suficiente

Too much ___ demasiado/a _____ se usa para incontables

Too many ___ demasiados/as_____ se usa para contables (es decir, para plurales)

4
Enough_too_much_too_many_easy

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free
letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note
that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

1. Tengo suficiente tiempo. I have time.

2. No tengo demasiados amigos. I haven't got friends.

3. Me has servido demasiado café. You have served me coffee.

4. Tenemos demasiados ejercicios. We have exercises.

5. No tengo demasiada cerveza. I haven't beer.

6. Tengo suficiente comida para todos I have food for everybody.

7. Bebes demasiado zumo. You drink juice.

8. No bebes suficiente agua. You don't drink water.

9. Aquí no hay demasiada diversión (fun) Here there isn't fun.

[Link] demasiados exámenes. We have exams.

too much/too many---too/enough

1 There's____________smoke in here, I can't breathe.

too

too much

too many

2 We don't earn_____________money to buy a mansion in Capri

too much

enough

too

5
3 She loved my writing, she said my novel was good____________to win the prize

too much

enough

too many

4 I know I eat ____________, but I need a lot of energy for my job

too many

enough

too much

5 I don't think the door is wide ____________for the piano, they'll have to open it up.

too much

too

enough

6 _____________money can do harm to young people. Some advice is always necessary.

too

too much

too many

7 The kid eat ____________sweets and felt sick afterwards

too much

too

too many

8 This cofee is much___________hot for me to drink

too

enough

too many

9 I think I've eaten _________________. I need a 'siesta'.

too many

6
 too much

enough

Complete with- too, enough, too much, too many-

[Link] ate _____________and felt bad afterwards.

2. I'm afraid I'm not tall _______________ to get you those books you want.

3. I never have _______________money to get a new car.

4. There aren't ____________Western people who can speak Chinese.

5. I know it is very good, but it's __________money for me.

6. When we got to the cinema, we saw that there were ______________ people in the queue, so
we left.

7. That milk is _____________for the children to drink it.

Too much

Enough

Enough

Too many

Too much

Too many

Too much

complete with- too, enough, too much, too many-

1. Are you brave to jump with a parachute?

2. There are people in this restaurant, we will never find a seat.

3. Go for a walk but don't go far, there are wild animals around.

4. We couldn't find cakes for everybody, so we bought some sandwiches.

7
5. She slept and had a headache when she got up, so we couldn't go out.

6. The cake is delicious but this is _____________for me, I can't eat any more, thank you.

7. Not drinking _________________water can bring health problems.

8. The door was ____________narrow to push the piano through, so they had to use the window.

9. There wasn't ________________water due to the hot summer and had to bring some with
tanks.

10 I never ran fast __________________to join the track team, but joined the mountain club.

Ken is always at home. He doesn't go out [NO ANSWER] Wrong! Correct

answer: ENOUGH
2. I don't like the weather here . There is [NO ANSWER] rain Wrong! Correct
answer: TOO MUCH
3. You are always tired.I think you work [NO ANSWER] hard Wrong! Correct
answer: TOO
4. You drink [NO ANSWER] coffee. It's not good for you Wrong! Correct
answer: TOO MUCH
5. I can't wait for them. I haven't got [NO ANSWER] time Wrong! Correct
answer: ENOUGH
6. There was nowhere to sit on the beach. There were [NO ANSWER] people
Wrong! Correct answer: TOO MANY
7. Our team didn't play well. We made [NO ANSWER] mistakes Wrong!
Correct answer: TOO MANY
8. I don't like the weather here. It's [NO ANSWER] cold Wrong! Correct
answer: TOO
9. Dear friends, did you have [NO ANSWER] to eat? Yes, thank you Wrong!
Correct answer: ENOUGH
10. You don't eat [NO ANSWER] fruit, you should eat some more. Wrong!
Correct answer: ENOUGH

1. Ken is always at home. He doesn't go out _____________

2. I don't like the weather here . There is __________________rain

3. You are always tired.I think you work_______________ hard

4. You drink ________________coffee. It's not good for you

5. I can't wait for them. I haven't got ________________________ time

6. There was nowhere to sit on the beach. There were ________________ people

8
 7. Our team didn't play well. We made ____________ mistakes

8. I don't like the weather here. It's _______________cold

9. Dear friends, did you have _____________ to eat? Yes, thank you

10. You don't eat ____________________ fruit, you should eat some more.

Lesson # a1207 ----- keyword: much

How much? How many?: Countable/Uncountable nouns

(see also lessons: thrz, men, the, howbig, any)

UNCOUNTABLE:
(so much, too much)

(spoonful, teaspoon, drop, quart, gallon, tad, smidgeon, bit, mite)

COUNTABLE:
(each, enough, so many, too many, most, all, both, neither, several)

(couple, pair, dozen, million, several, stack, herd, school, gang, flock,
group, crowd)

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE:

(each, enough, most, all)

(box, boxful, fistful, handful, ounce, pound, ton, eyeful, earful, ton,
bunch,
mountain, pile, heap(s), truckload, cartload, shipload)

VOCABULARY:

a few, a little, a lot of, enough, few, little, loads of, lots of, many,
much,
no, plenty of, some, tons of, too

>> All nouns are either countable or uncountable:

-There are a few birds in the garden. birds = countable

-There is a little water on the table. water = uncountable

>> We do not say:

-XXX There is a little birds in the garden.

-XXX There are a few waters on the table.

>> Countable nouns use the singular and the plural:

-That is a book.
-Those are books.

>> Uncountable nouns use only the singular:

-There is time.

9
-That is money.

>> Uncountable nouns do not use the articles "a" and "an".

ADJECTIVES OF QUANTITY:

COUNTABLE:
How many?

few a few many

UNCOUNTABLE:
How much?

little a little much

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE:

How many? or How much?

no some enough lots of

plenty of tons of
loads of

>> "Enough" expresses quantity relative to requirement:

-How much money is there?

There is fifty dollars.
-Is it enough money to buy a car?
No, it is not enough.
-How many football players are there?
There are eleven.
-Are eleven players enough to play a game?
Yes, they are enough.

>> "Too few", "too little", "too many" and "too much" indicate a
greater
or lesser quantity than the requirement:

-How much money is there?

There is fifty dollars.
-Is it enough money to buy a car?
No, it is too little.

-How many football players are there?

There are seventy five.
-Are seventy five players enough to play a game?
Yes, there are enough. In fact, there are too many.

>> We use "many" and "much" in the negative:

-Is there some milk in the refrigerator?

No, there is not much.
or:
There is little.
-Are there many people on the beach?

10
 No, there are not many.
or:
There are few.

SOME UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:

UNCOUNTABLE:
air, art, beer, bread, butter, coffee, cold, dirt, fire, food, heat,
milk, music,
oxygen, paper, plastic, rain, skin, space, sugar, sun, tea, water, wind,
wine, wood, wool

COLLECTIVE:
furniture, hair, literature, luggage, money, silverware

ABSTRACT:
desire, English, football, freedom, German, hate, intelligence, liberty,
love, news,
pain, tennis, time, work

SOME COUNTABLE NOUNS:

bird, book, car, child, cigarette, dog, film, house, idea, jacket, man,
mountain,
pipe, plate, river, shoe, table, thought, window

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:

>> Some nouns are countable AND uncountable. It depends on the

meaning:

-There isn't much perfume left in the bottle. UNCOUNTABLE

-There are many expensive perfumes. COUNTABLE
-There is little time before the show. UNCOUNTABLE
-The show is at three different times: 8:00, 10:00 and 12:00. COUNTABLE
-There is a little wine in the bottle. UNCOUNTABLE
-French wines are the most expensive. COUNTABLE

EXAMPLES:

COUNTABLE:
-There are too many car accidents each year.
-There are not many people who can speak Basque well.
-There are few people who can speak Basque well.
-How many mountains are there in Tibet?
There are very many.
-How many elephants are there in England?
There are very few.
or:
There are not many.
-How many cigarettes are there?
There are no cigarettes.
or:
There are none.
-Are there enough chairs for the party?
No, there aren't enough chairs.
or:

11
 No, there are too few chairs.
-Are there many brilliant scientists at your university?
Yes, there are a lot.
or:
Yes, there are many.
or:
No, there aren't many.
or:
No, there are few.

UNCOUNTABLE:
-It's a little windy tonight.
-There is much work to do.
-There is too much work to do.
-There is not enough milk for the recipe.
-There is not much rain this year.
-How much freedom is there in Italy?
There is a lot of freedom, but it's not enough.
-How much furniture is there in your house?
There is not much furniture.
or:
There is little furniture.
-Is there enough food for the party?
There is enough.
or:
There is not enough.
or:
There is too little.
-Is there enough time to take a shower before dinner?
Yes, there's plenty of time.
or:
Yes, there's enough time.
or:
No, there's not much time.
or:
No, there's little time.
or:
No, there's not enough time.
or:
No, there's too little time.

EXERCISES:
too, enough, how many/much, not many much, little much, few many,
answers, questions, blank

>> Answer the following questions:

0. How many people are there in the Sahara Desert?

There are not many.
or:
There are few.
1. How many exercises are there in this lesson?
2. How much time is there before the new year?
3. How many fish are there in the sea?
4. How much memory is in your computer?
5. Is a kilogram of sugar enough to make a cake?
6. Is twenty dollars enough to buy an airplane ticket?

12
7. Are five people enough to play a game of chess?
8. Are there many people who speak Latin?
9. Are there many unemployed people in Europe?
10. Are there enough doctors in Italy?

>> Fill in the blanks:

0. How many books are there in the library?

There are _______.
-- many, a lot, a ton, loads
11. Is there ______ hot water to wash the dishes?
12. Are there enough teachers in the school?
No, there are _______.
13. How much rain is there in India?
There is ______ rain.
14. Is there much traffic in Sao Paolo?
Yes, there is ______ much!
15. Is there ______ poverty in Switzerland?
16. Are there ______ baseball fans in Taiwan?
17. How ______ kinds of insect are there in the world?
18. How ______ tourism is there in Australia?
19. How ______ tourists are there in Thailand?
20. Is fifty dollars ______ to buy a liter of water?
Yes! It is too ______.

>> Make questions for the following answers:

0. How many tigers are there in Africa?

There are no tigers in Africa.
21. No, there is too little gas in the car.
22. No, there aren't enough hours in the day.
23. There are many many diseases.
24. It is too much for me.
25. There are too few rooms for the business convention.
26. There are a lot of employees in the company.
27. No, there are no people with two mothers.
28. Yes, there is a ton of salt in the ocean.
29. No, there is no person who is 250 years old.
30. No, there are too few saints in the world.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO THE EXERCISES:

1. There are too many exercises in this lesson.

2. There is not much time before the new year.
3. There are many fish in the sea.
4. There is a lot of memory in my computer.
5. A kilogram of sugar is too much to make a cake.
6. Twenty dollars is not enough to buy an airplane ticket.
7. Five people are too many to play a game of chess.
8. There are no people who speak Latin.
9. There are too many unemployed people in Europe.
10. There are too many doctors in Italy.
11. enough
12. not enough, too few
13. a lot, a ton, too much
14. too, very
15. much

13
16. many
17. many
18. much
19. many
20. enough -- much
21. Is there enough gas in the car to go to the city?
22. Are there enough hours in the day?
23. How many diseases are there in the world?
24. How much is an airplane ticket around the world?
25. How many rooms are there in the hotel?
26. How many employees are there in the company?
27. Are there many people with two mothers?
28. Is there salt in the ocean?
29. Is there a person who is 250 years old?
30. Are there enough saints in the world?

It's such a beautiful day and it's not too far, so I'm going to walk to the bus stop today. Thanks
for offering me a ride though.

Stuntmen are trained to do things that are too dangerous for average people

You seem a little cranky today. Did you get enough sleep last night?

We love going to the beach when there aren't too many people there.

Don't worry. If you don't have enough money to close the deal on the house, I'll lend you the
down payment.

Jamie really loved the dinette set, but it was too expensive so she didn't buy it.

That job is too difficult for me. Besides that, my boss is so domineering.

I don't have a lot of reports to do today, so I should be home by supper time

Karen was depressed, so she ate a lot of chocolate this past weekend.

I'm exhausted because I've really been worried about finances lately. I didn't get enough sleep
last night or the night before that.

This meal is so good! Do you think I could have a ......... more beef, please?

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

14
Would you like ......... cream in your coffee?

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

I love Thailand. I've already been there a ......... times and I plan to go back this summer.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

I can't go right now because I still have a ......... orders to fill by 5 o'clock.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

Since I started my new job, it seems like I've got very ......... time to do the things I enjoy.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

Do you want ......... more potato chips? There's another bag in the cupboard if you do.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

15
I love coffee in the morning, but I only take a ......... milk and two teaspoons of sugar in it.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

I need a ......... help with my homework. Do you have time to help me?

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

Despite their marketing efforts, the promoters only managed to sell a ......... CDs for the band this
past year.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

My boss is very particular about everything, and he has very ......... tolerance for silly mistakes.

(a) few

(b) little

(c) some

16