Using "Much - Many" In Positive Sentences

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murat guler

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Hi All

I want to learn if we can use "many - much" in positive sentences whenever we want. As far as I know, they are generally used in negative and question sentences. In positive sentences, they should either be part of the subject of the sentence... e.g....

"Many of the guests liked him"

..... or they should be supported with another adjective such as too,so....etc. e.g....

"There was too much sugar in my tea."

However, I sometimes see using of these quantifiers in positive sentences which are not compatible with the 2 criterias above. e.g....

"I have many friends"

Is this sentence grammatically correct or does it have to be...

"I have a lot of/lots of/plenty of friends.

Thanks
 
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SlickVic9000

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"I have many friends." "I have lots of friends." -- Both of these sentences are fine.

"Many" is typically used with countable nouns. (Such as people, apples, trucks, sandwiches, doorknobs, and other things that can be quantified in definite terms)

"Much" is generally used with uncountable nouns. (Such as sand, sugar, water, sarcasm, liquid soap, time, and other things that are hard to quantify)

Whether a sentence is positive or negative has nothing to do with when "many" and "much" are used. Their usage is wholly dependent on the noun they describe.
 
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Raymott

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Hi All

I want to learn if we can use "many - much" in positive sentences whenever we want.
There are very few grammatical structures that we can use whenever we want. So, I'd say no.

As far as I know, they are generally used in negative and question sentences. In positive sentences, they should either be part of the subject of the sentence... e.g....

"Many of the guests liked him"
"He liked many of his guests" is just as correct.

..... or they should be supported with another adjective such as too,so....etc. e.g....

"There was too much sugar in my tea."
"There was much laughter in the room."

However, I sometimes see using of these quantifiers in positive sentences which are not compatible with the 2 criterias above. e.g....
Your above two criteria are wrong.

"I have many friends" That's right.

Is this sentence grammatically correct or does it have to be...

"I have a lot of/lots of/plenty of friends.

Thanks
R.
 

5jj

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In informal speech and writing we tend to use 'a lot of' rather than 'much/many' in such affirmative statements as "I have ..... friends". However, there is nothing wrong with 'much/many'.

ps criterion - singular; criteria - plural.
 
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