many
part of speech
determiner, pronoun (many, more, most)
meaning for a pupil
1) Many means a large number of things or people: many birds. tree →
2) «How many» asks for a number: How many cats do you have? tree →
3) «As many as» compares two equal numbers. tree →
4) «Too many» means more than is wanted; «so many» means a great number. tree →
5) (casual) Chatty talk says «loads», «heaps» (Australia, NZ), «tons», «a ton of», «lots», «a bunch of», «a load of», «a gazillion» instead of many. tree →
6) (casual) «How many he got then?» is broken grammar for «How many has he got?». tree →
7) (formal) The exam voice says «numerous», «a considerable number of», «a multitude of», «the number of», «what quantity of». tree →
sense in the lessons
in «how many», asking for a count; «how many more/fewer … than» asks for a difference; «twice as many» = multiply by 2; «as many as» = equal; in everyday life «so many», «too many», «many times»; «many happy returns» (happy birthday); in casual talk «heaps», «loads», «tons»; in the exam voice «Determine the number of …», «numerous», «a considerable number of»
examples
- And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. (Torah GEN.21.34, JPS 1917) tree →
- So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there. (Torah DEU.1.46, JPS 1917) tree →
- The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; (Torah DEU.2.10, JPS 1917) tree →
- And he sought for them many wives. (Writings 2CH.11.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- How many are mine iniquities and sins? (Writings JOB.13.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- LORD, how many are mine adversaries become! (Writings PSA.3.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- How many cards does Zoe have now? tree →
- How many more stickers does Ali have than Mia? tree →
- Tom has twice as many pens as Sue. tree →
- Many children walk to school. tree →
- How many legs does a spider have? tree →
- There are too many toys on the floor. tree →
- I have read this book many times. tree →
- Sam has as many cards as Leo. tree →
- there's heaps of chips, take as many as ya want tree →
- how many he got left then? tree →
- I've told you a million times! tree →
- State the number of legs possessed by 3 spiders, each spider having 8 legs. tree →
- Many years passed by after this. tree →
note
«how many» alone asks for a number, not an operation; «determine the number of» in an exam asks the same. Trap: «how many more/fewer … than» asks for a difference; «twice as many» means multiply by 2. «many» goes with things you can count (many apples); «much» with things you cannot (much water). «heaps», «loads», «a million times» are vague: they mean «a lot», not an exact number. A spider has 8 legs.
In the corpora
- And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
- And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
- And Pharaoh said unto Jacob: 'How many are the days of the years of thy life?'
- So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
- The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «many» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.