[Grammar] "much traffic"

[shikemoku]

Hello.

In the sentence below, can we use "much" instead of "heavy"?

In spite of the heavy traffic, we arrived on time.

"The much traffic" sounds wrong to me, but I don't know why.
Would it work if it was "in spite of much traffic"?

Thank you in advance.

 

[GoesStation]

The much traffic is ungrammatical. In spite of much traffic is grammatical but unnatural.

 

[bubbha]

We usually use "much" in negatives and in questions.

 

[shikemoku]

Thank you for your reply, GoesStation.

I have another question.
When we use "much" as an adjective, are there any cases where we can put "the" in front of it?

 

[Tarheel]

*The much-maligned Robert Thackeray took his seat at the table.*

Hm.

 

[shikemoku]

Thank you, Tarheel.

It seems "much" in the example you gave me is a part of an adjective, but not an adjective itself.
However, this might show putting "the" in front of "much" is at least uncommon.
You would have come up with "the much+noun" if it were common.

 

[Tdol]

It's not common.

 

[jutfrank]

When we use "much" as an adjective, are there any cases where we can put "the" in front of it?

The word much is a quantifier (a kind of determiner), not an adjective. It can never be used as an adjective.

*The much-maligned Robert Thackeray took his seat at the table.*

Here, much-maligned is an adjective phrase. The article The is a determiner.

It seems "much" in the example you gave me is a part of an adjective but not an adjective itself.

Correct. It's part of the adjective phrase much-maligned. Here, much is an adverb, modifying the head of the adjective phrase maligned.

However, this might show putting "the" in front of "much" is at least uncommon.
You would have come up with "the much+noun" if it were common.

You can never use much as a quantifier after the because you can't have two determiners together.

 

[shikemoku]

Thank you for your clear explanation, jutfrank.
I really appreciate it.

I think now I understand this fully.

 

[lotus888]

Despite heavy traffic, we arrived on time.