quantifier much and many

Question

Please could you tell me:

Why is not correct : However, there weren´t very mucht and
why is correct: However, there weren´t very many

Thanks

Answer 1

You use much with uncountable nouns like water or time, and you use many with countable nouns like cars or apples.

ok, but in this case, I don´t know if the noun is countable or uncountable - maylegoas, Mar 10, 2011

You wouldn't be using "were" with an uncountable noun, you would use "was" instead. - lorenzo9, Mar 10, 2011

Note - some nouns can be either countable or non-countable depending on context though. - ian-hill, Mar 10, 2011

OK,thanks lorenzo9 and Jan-hill now, I understand this. you are great - maylegoas, Mar 10, 2011

Answer 2

Good question - I had to think about this.

Why is However, there weren´t very much and - not correct ?

There was not very much water / money / coffee (non-countable nouns)

And why is However, there weren´t very many correct ?

There were not very many people / students / flowers (countable nouns)

Was is for 3rd person singular (past tense)

Were is for all other persons. (past tense)

could you explain me better, please?, because I don´t understand very well.. thanks - maylegoas, Mar 10, 2011

As Lorenzo said "much" for uncountable nouns and "many" with countable nouns. - ian-hill, Mar 10, 2011

"Was" is always used for singular = uncountable nouns. "Were" is for all plural = countable nouns. - ian-hill, Mar 10, 2011

I hope this helps. - ian-hill, Mar 10, 2011