Many vs More
Many and More are two words that are often confused due to their appeared similarity. Strictly speaking there is some difference between the usages of the two words. The words ‘many’ and ‘more’ are used as adjectives of quantity differently. The adjective ‘many’ is used in the case of countable whereas the adjective ‘more’ is used in the case of ‘uncountable’. This is the main difference between many and more
Observe the two sentences given below:
1. There are many files in the cabinet
2. How many students were present during the lecture?
In both the sentences the word ‘many’ is used to express a quantity that is countable. In the first sentence the use of the word ‘many’ suggests ‘the number of files’ in the cabinet. In the second sentence the use of the word ‘many’ suggest ‘the number of students’ that attended the lecture.
On the other hand the adjective ‘more’ is more often used in the case of quantity that is uncountable as in the sentences
1. Would you like to have more coffee?
2. Shall I pour more milk.
In the sentences mentioned above the use of the word ‘more’ suggests quantity which is uncountable. In the first sentence the use of the word ‘more’ suggests extra quantity of cofee. In the second sentence the use of the word ‘more’ suggests extra quantity of milk. Both coffee and milk are uncountable.
The word ‘more’ is sometimes used along with the comparative particle ‘than’ as in the sentence ‘I like mango more than a banana.’ Sometimes the word ‘more’ is used along with a verb to express the idea of ‘extra’ as in the sentence ‘I want to talk more on the subject’. Here the word ‘more’ is used along with the verb ‘talk’ to suggest the sense of ‘extra’.