“Too much of” vs. “too much”

[alexandrea_]

Hello everyone. I have a question posted from a student that I’m having difficulty answering. The student wants to know what the difference is between “too much of “ and “too much,” and when to use each. I tried explaining but I guess my explanation wasn’t helpful. Your explanations would be so helpful as well as some example sentences. Thanks in advance.

 

[99bottles]

Not a teacher/native.

I think too much is used with uncountable nouns whereas too much of is followed by the indefinite article, so it's used with countable nouns.

 

[Tarheel]

I might say I ate too much. (We wouldn't usually bother adding the word "food" because it's obvious what is meant.) Or I might say I ate too much pizza. Or too much ice cream.

I can't think of anything with "too much of" right now.

 

[jutfrank]

Use of when you're talking about a specific thing:

Don't eat too much ice cream. [talking about ice cream in general]

Don't eat too much of my ice cream. [talking only about my ice cream]

 

[Cunning Fox]

I can't think of anything with "too much of" right now.

Or:

It's not too much of a problem.

 

[Tdol]

Too much ice cream is not too much of a problem to some.

 

[emsr2d2]

You can never have too much of a good thing.