Much/ A lot

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Much/ A lot

customer

Much/ A lot

Hi everybody,

are these 2 sentences correct?

They didn �t change much.

They didn �t change a lot.

According to the rule, the first is correct, but what about the second? Is it acceptable?

Thanks a lot for your help,

have a good Sunday

Chiara

26 Feb 2012

Yolandaprieto

I �ve heard it but the correct one is the first one.

Yolanda

26 Feb 2012

mena22

Hi Chiara!

According to the rules, "a lot of/ lots of" is used mostly in affirmative sentences.

In an informal style, "much" and "many" are used mostly in questions and negative sentences. They are unusual in affirmative sentences, except after "so", "as" and "too":

1. There was so much traffic that it took me an hour to get home.

But: There was a lot of bad driving on the road (more natural than there was much bad driving...).

2. You make too many spelling mistakes - lots of spelling mistakes (more natural than many mistakes)

In a formal style, "much" and "many" are not so unnatural in affirmative sentences:

Much has been written about the causes of unemployment.

In the opinion of many economists, ....

Source: Practical English Usage, Michael Swan, Oxford University Press

Hope it helps.

Have a wonderful Sunday,

mena

26 Feb 2012

yanogator