[Grammar] a lot/much + comperative

[angelene001]

Do 'a lot" and 'much' mean the same when placed before the comparative? Can they be used interchangeably?
For example:
1. Scientists are much/a lot more important than footballers.
2. I will have to work much/a lot harder if I want to go to a university.

I'm confused because the key to the exercises says:
1. Scientists are much more important than footballers.
2. I will have to work much/a lot harder if I want to go to a university.

 

[Rover_KE]

They are interchangeable in those sentences. Note the correct spelling of 'comparative'.

 

[tzfujimino]

...and it should be 'scientists'.
(I'd like to know some reasons to support the idea.)
:-D

 

[angelene001]

Could you give me an example of a sentence where they aren't interchangeable?

 

[Rover_KE]

I can't think of one. It's just that I hesitate to say they are always interchangeable, as somebody is sure to prove me wrong.

 

[emsr2d2]

I like you a lot.
I like you much.

Only the first is correct so they are not always interchangeable.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

I don't like you a lot.
I don't like you much.

Only the second is correct so they are not always interchangeable in negative sentences either.

To get back to the original question, the main difference is that "a lot" is just less formal than "much".

 

[Rover_KE]

I like you a lot.
I like you much.

I don't like you a lot.
I don't like you much.

But the thread is about a lot/much followed by a comparative adjective.

How about that?

 

[emsr2d2]

Sorry, skim-reading on my phone keeps getting me into trouble. I'll stop doing it.

 

[Ali Hsn]

Hello

Considering emsr2d2's example and Rover_KE's reminder about this thread, if [I like you a lot] is correct and [I like you much] is not, can we say:

[I like you a lot more than them] is correct
but
[I like you much more than them] is not?

Thanks in advance!






)

 

[Raymott]

"You can't buy much better strawberries than these." Right.
"You can't buy a lot better strawberries than these." Wrong, or at least awkward.

My position is that the number of globally "interchangeable" words in English could fit on a gnat's arse. There will always be contexts that make one reconsider whether teaching "interchangeability" as a concept is a disservice to learners.

 

[5jj]

Considering emsr2d2's example and Rover_KE's reminder about this thread, if [I like you a lot] is correct and [I like you much] is not, can we say:

[I like you a lot more than them] is correct
but
[I like you much more than them] is not?

No. In your comparative sentences, much and a lot are both modifying more, not like. They are both acceptable.

 

[Rover_KE]

Considering emsr2d2's example and Rover_KE's reminder about this thread, if "I like you a lot" is correct and "I like you much" is not, can we say:

"I like you a lot more than them" is correct,
but
"I like you much more than them" is not?

NO. They are both correct.

Please note my amendments to your punctuation.

EDIT: I wrote that before noticing that the thread had gone to a second page. That happens a lot.

 

[angelene001]

It's probably something that sounds better to a native speaker. He/She just know it's wrong or awkward. But what about a learner from a foreign country? Or even a teacher? He/she can't tell for sure, like you, it's wrong or at least awkward. From grammatical point of view it seems ok. It would be probably acceptable for a Polish teacher of English.

 

[angelene001]

I can't think of one. It's just that I hesitate to say they are always interchangeable, as somebody is sure to prove me wrong.

For this reason, I feel unsure when I see an example like the one I've given you.
Probably I'm wrong but I perceive people who write the key to the exercises as some kind of gods They know better and they know more than I do.
And when they write:
1. Scientists are much more important than footballers.
2. I will have to work much/a lot harder if I want to go to a university.
I think that there must be some secret reason for not using 'a lot' in the first sentence. The one they don't want to share with learners in a grammar book.

 

[angelene001]

I like you a lot.
I like you much.

Only the first is correct so they are not always interchangeable.

What about:
I like it very much.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"I like it very much" is fine. To answer your previous question, "much" in the first sentence is more formal, at least for me.

 

[Raymott]

Probably I'm wrong but I perceive people who write the key to the exercises as some kind of gods

Then you're worse than wrong - you're delusional! ;-)
Some of these books are written by non-native speakers, and we get some abysmally incorrect answer keys here. In cases where native speakers would disagree, the questions should not even be put; but not even all native teachers know when other native teachers are going to disagree. Anyway, I can assure you that they are very human.

 

[Rover_KE]

What about:
I like it very much.

That's fine, and you couldn't replace 'much' with 'a lot'.

But your OP was about much/a lot before comparatives.