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Writer's pictureDavid Nagai

How to Use "Much" in English

Updated: May 22, 2023

I often hear people misuse the word “much.” When you say, “I have much work,” it may technically be correct, but it sounds old-fashioned and unnatural. In order to sound more natural, you can say, "I have so much work," or "I have a lot of work."

Let’s explore three general guidelines. “Much” is usually only used in questions, negative statements, and exclamations.


1. Questions


Does it rain much in Yokohama? Did it cost very much? Did you do much preparation for the test? Is there much benefit to dialoging?


2. Negative statements


No, it doesn’t rain much here. No, it didn’t cost much. No, I didn’t prepare much. Not much of the conversation was helpful. I don’t study much.


3. Exclamation/excess/extremes


It rained so much yesterday! It cost too much! I prepared so much for the test. There’s so much cake!

Thank you so much!


As you can see, an exclamation mark creates an exclamation. But an exclamation mark is not always required. Words without exclamation marks like so, very, or too can generally be used to indicate excess or extremes.


Another way to use "much" is "much of." For example:


Much of my job involves research. Much of my day was spent shopping. Much of the test was multiple choice.


Another very common phrase similar to this is "a lot of." (A lot of my job involves research)


Of course, there are always exceptions to the guidelines.


The key is to remember that in natural English, “much” is generally used with questions, negative sentences, and exclamations.


 

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(Advanced and intermediate only)


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