How Many Singular Or Plural

How much? – How many?

English Grammar

When we want to know the quantity or amount of something, we ask questions starting with

How much

and

How many
.

HOW MUCH …? – (Quantity)

How much
is used with uncountable nouns.

HOW MUCH + UNCOUNTABLE NOUN

• How much
  time do we have to finish the test?
• How much
  money did you spend?
• How much
  sugar would you like in your coffee?
• How much
  paper will I need?
• How much
  milk is in the fridge?
• How much
  traffic was there on the way to work?

If the verb
To Be
is used with an uncountable noun, it is in singular form (= IS or WAS etc.)

HOW MUCH …? – (Price)

How much
can also be used when we want to know the PRICE of something.

In this case, we can use
How much
with countable nouns (both singular and plural nouns).

• How much
  is that painting?
• How much
  are those shoes?
• How much
  did your jacket cost?
• How much
  is the dress on display in the window?
• How much
  will it cost derita?
• How much
  does it cost ?

HOW MANY …? – (Quantity)

How many
is used when we want to know the QUANTITY of something.

It is only used with plural countable nouns.

HOW MANY + Berjenis-jenis NOUN

• How many
  days are there in January?
• How many
  people work in your company?
• How many
  cousins do you have?
• How many
  books did you buy?
• How many
  countries are there in the world?
• How many
  students are in the class right now?
• How many
  chairs are there in this room?
• How many
  pieces of chocolate would you like?

Omitting the noun

Often the noun is omitted in the question when it is obvious what we are talking about.

A: I would like to buy some
cheese. B:
How much
(cheese) would you like?

The noun
cheese
is not necessary after

how much

since we already know we are talking about
cheese. In fact, it is normally omitted to avoid sounding repetitive.

More examples:

• A: I need some
  coins. – B:
  How many
  do you need?
• A: I need some
  sugar. – B:
  How much
  do you need?

Summary Chart

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How much and How many in English
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