quantifiers many

Question

Please, could you tell me, In the sentence:

*There were more than twice as many TV sets in the world in 2000 as in1060

Why I must use many and not more?*

Thanks.

Answer 1

There must be a better way of explaining this - but I can't think of it.

BUT

One can not say "twice as more" - it has to be "twice as many"

"Twice as much" is ok though.

I hope someone comes up with the simple explanation that escapes me just now.

PS did you mean 1960 ?

I agree. You also might hear "twice the number of ___ as ____ ." - Izanoni1, Mar 14, 2011

1060 - ha ha. there are infinitly more TVs now than then. - samdie, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 2

As many... / as in a comparative sentence:

There were as many TV sets in the world in 2000 as in1060

Twice as many... / as in a comparative sentence:

There were twice as many TV sets in the world in 2000 as in1060

Or more than twice as many / as:

There were more than twice as many TV sets in the world in 2000 as in1060

You don´t say: As more / as...

En español:

En 2000 había tantos televisores como en 1960.

En 2000 había el doble de televisores que en 1960.

En 2000 había más del doble de televisores que en 1960.

Sí Luis, entiendo perfectamente tus ejemplos, pero en un exámen, yo no sé cuando quieren que les diga: tantos TVs or más del doble de TV - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 3

"As many* is like saying como mucho.

"More* is like saying más.

"como mucho"?!? Never hear that before. - samdie, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 4

Because in the year 1060, TV was not even a figment of the imagination and Many and More had a different relationship than they do now.

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It's used this way now:

There are twice as many TVs now than then.

There are more TVs now than then.

Answer 5

Here is another view that addresses the difference between much and many. This page refers to them both as determiners and distinguishes between using them with countable (often plural) nouns and uncountable (often singular) nouns. Read what this writer has to say at this page ----> difference-between-much-and-many

thanks Moe, this is a great help. Thanks a lot - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 6

Creo que la confusión se deriva del hecho de que en español la manera más común manera de decirlo sería decir algo como «hay más de dos veces más ____ que ____».

En inglés también se puede decirlo de manera parecida: «There are more than two times more ____ than ____», no obstante, en inglés no es poco común de decir algo como «There are two times as many ____ as (there are) ____» o «There are twice as many ____ as (there are) ____». Creo que en este caso lo más usual es decirlo así (o sea, de la manera de los últimos dos ejemplos) porque la primera frase, aunque correcta en cuanto a la gramática, suena un poco rara (tal vez debido a la repetición de la palabra «more» pero no sé).

Por eso, creo que es una cuestión de uso y no de gramática. Cada lengua tiene su modo de hablar propio y peculiar de sí mismo. Es decir que inglés tanto como español tiene sus propias maneras de decir algo y muchas veces, porque son lenguas diferentes, lo que es común en algún lengua no tiene nada que ver con lo que es común en la otra.

En pocas palabras, me parece que la expresión «two times as many» simplemente es un modismo propio de inglés que no tiene una traducción literal en español. De todas maneras espero que entiendes entiendas lo que he escrito y por favor perdona mi español.

Corregid mi español, por favor

Izanoni1, en español se dice la manera más común, entiendas y por favor, solo esos tres errores. No sé si está bien que te conteste por aquí - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

mil gracias, Maylegoas. :) - Izanoni1, Mar 14, 2011

izononi1 ojalá veas esto, me faltó perdona por perdonar - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 7

Maybe using "two times" instead of "twice" will make it easier to see:

There are two times more. . .

There are two times as many. . .

You can't say "as more" in comparisons like this.

good idea Lorenzo - but is there really no other explanation? - ian-hill, Mar 14, 2011

It is related to the fact that "more" is the irregular comparitive form of "many", but being irregular there is no simple explanation. - lorenzo9, Mar 14, 2011

OK,thanks lorenzo9 and Jan-hill - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 8

See if it helps to compare these examples help (parts in red result in ungrammaticality):

?There are many... ? There are a great number of...

?There are more... ? There are a greater number of...

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? There are as many TVs as Radios ? There are as great a number of TVs as there are radios.

? There are more TVs than Radios ? There are a greater number of TVs than there are radios

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? There are as more TVs than radios ? There are as greater number of TVs than radios.

? There are as more TVs as radios ? There are as greater number of TVs as radios.

so, more is comparative and no many? - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

They can both be used comparatively, but "as many...as" is more like "tanto...como" - Izanoni1, Mar 14, 2011

thanks izanoni1 - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011

Answer 9

After looking at Sabor's response, I just realized that the expression in Spanish would likely use más to express this idea:

?There are two times more women than men ? Hay dos veces más mujeres que hombres

If you consider the following formula in English:

As many...(as) ? The (same) number of...(as)

It might make more sense to see how the above might be restated in English:

?There are two times as many women as there are men ? There are two times the number of women as there are men.

I understand a little, but I think that I´m little complicate - maylegoas, Mar 14, 2011