Expressing Quantity in English for Large Amounts

There are many expressions used to express large amounts in English. In general, much and many are the standard quantifiers used to express large quantities. The Basics Much is used with uncountable nouns: There is much interest in learning English around the world.How much money do you have?There isnt much butter left in the refrigerator. Many is used with countable nouns: There are many people who use the computer every day.How many students live close to the school?There arent many books on that shelf. The following expressions are often used in place of much and many, especially in positive sentences. a lot oflots ofplenty ofa great deal ofa large number ofthe majority of These expressions can are combined with of in the sense of most, many or much. A lot of people enjoy listening to jazz.A great deal of time is spent understanding these issues. Note that much, most and many does NOT take of. Most people enjoy listening to some type of music. (NOT: Most of people...)Much time is spent understanding math. (NOT: Much of time is spent ...) Formal/Informal A lot of/lots of/plenty of are generally used in informal situations: There will be a lot of food at the party.Theres plenty of time to finish your homework. A large amount of/a great deal of/a large number of/a majority of are used in more formal situations, such as written business English and presentations. There is a great deal of pressure to finish this project on time.There are a large number of individuals who prefer to do banking online. Countable/Uncountable A lot of/lots of/plenty of are used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Theres a lot of juice in this jug.There are plenty of opportunities to learn online.There are lots of people who like chess. A large amount of/a great deal of are used with uncountable nouns such as water, money, time, etc. Theres a large amount of work to be done on this project.There isnt a great deal of time to finish this report. A large number of/a the majority of are used with countable nouns such as people, students, investors, etc. The majority of investors are interested in low-risk opportunities.A large number of our pupils continue their studies at university.