SO MANY vs. SO MUCH
10 / 05 / 2012
SO MANY vs. SO MUCH: meaning and examples
Good morning,
Yesterday we explained how to use SO and SUCH. Today we will contrast SO MUCH and SO MANY.
As we said yesterday, both forms can be used to give emphasis to something. SO MUCH and SO MANY are used together with nouns. We are emphasizing the amount (quantity) of the noun. These words are often used with this structure: SO / SO MUCH / SO MANY ... THAT, which you will see in some of the examples below.
Meaning of SO MANY: Use SO MANY a countable noun to give emphasis to the amount of a thing. Remember: Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. We are emphasizing the idea of 'many' so our nouns will be in the plural form.
Example 1:
There are so many tomatoes growing in my garden this year. Would you like to have some?
Example 2:
We've got so many applicants for the job that I'm not sure how we'll be able to interview all of them.
Example 3:
He has told that story so many times that I think we all know it by heart now.
Meaning of SO MUCH: Use SO MUCH an uncountable noun to give emphasis to a concept or a thing. Remember: uncountable nouns are used for concepts, abstract ideas or undefined amounts.
Example 4:
We have so much time that we have decided to start volunteering for a local charity.
Example 5:
They had to serve so much food at the wedding reception that they needed to hire three extra cooks.
We have so many Daily Vitamins AND review exercises on our website, so we hope you'll take advantage of them!
Remember that tomorrow we present our Essential Weekly Vitamin for Spanish-speaking students of English.
Enjoy! See you tomorrow.
Yesterday we explained how to use SO and SUCH. Today we will contrast SO MUCH and SO MANY.
As we said yesterday, both forms can be used to give emphasis to something. SO MUCH and SO MANY are used together with nouns. We are emphasizing the amount (quantity) of the noun. These words are often used with this structure: SO / SO MUCH / SO MANY ... THAT, which you will see in some of the examples below.
Meaning of SO MANY: Use SO MANY a countable noun to give emphasis to the amount of a thing. Remember: Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. We are emphasizing the idea of 'many' so our nouns will be in the plural form.
Example 1:
There are so many tomatoes growing in my garden this year. Would you like to have some?
Example 2:
We've got so many applicants for the job that I'm not sure how we'll be able to interview all of them.
Example 3:
He has told that story so many times that I think we all know it by heart now.
Meaning of SO MUCH: Use SO MUCH an uncountable noun to give emphasis to a concept or a thing. Remember: uncountable nouns are used for concepts, abstract ideas or undefined amounts.
Example 4:
We have so much time that we have decided to start volunteering for a local charity.
Example 5:
They had to serve so much food at the wedding reception that they needed to hire three extra cooks.
We have so many Daily Vitamins AND review exercises on our website, so we hope you'll take advantage of them!
Remember that tomorrow we present our Essential Weekly Vitamin for Spanish-speaking students of English.
Enjoy! See you tomorrow.
