Much vs a Lot of
The confusion people experience in understanding when to use much and a lot of is due to the fact that the difference between much and a lot of is a little too slim. If you look at the two expressions much and a lot of you can understand that they are both expressions of quantity. When used in a positive sense much refers a large amount of something. A lot of also means a large number or amount. However, from the to expressions much and a lot of, a lot of is considered an expression used in an informal sense. Moreover, a lot of is constructed by adding the indefinite article ‘a’ to the front and preposition ‘of’ to the back of the pronoun lot. The origin of the word much lies in Middle English while the origin of the word lot lies in the Old English word hlot.
What does Much mean?
The word much is often used in questions and negative sentences as in the sentences given below:
How much money do you spend on food every month?
Did you have much trouble with your customers?
There is not much milk left in the house.
In the first two sentences, you can see that the word much is used in questions. In the last sentence, the word much is used in a negative sense or in a negative sentence. The third sentence would mean ‘there is very little milk left in the house.’ It only means that the milk left in the house is not sufficient for the members of the family to drink. Hence, it is used in a negative sense. In all these sentences, you can see that the word much is used with uncountable nouns. In other words, you can say that the word much is used with uncountable nouns such as ‘money’ and ‘trouble’ and ‘milk’ respectively.
What does A Lot Of mean?
On the other hand, the expression a lot of is used in the case of both countable and uncountable nouns as in the sentences given below.
A lot of money was spent on his education.
A lot of books on philosophy were seen in his shelf.
In the first sentence, the expression a lot of is used with an uncountable noun ‘money’ whereas in the second sentence, the expression a lot of is used with a countable noun, namely ‘books’. Hence, it is understood that the expression a lot of is used in affirmative sentences. Both the sentences given above for that matter are affirmative sentences.
What is the difference between Much and A Lot Of?
• The word much is often used in questions and negative sentences.
• The word much is used with uncountable nouns.
• On the other hand, the expression a lot of is used in the case of both countable and uncountable nouns. This is an important difference between the two expressions much and a lot of.
• The expression a lot of is used in affirmative sentences.