Much、Many、A Lot Of、Plenty Of:學習者成日搞亂嘅數量詞

有個學生曾經寫過:「I have much friends in this city, and I drink many coffee every day.」兩個細細個字,就將成句嘅意思徹底反轉。呢位作者多數其實識條規矩 —— much 配不可數,many 配可數 —— 但句子仲係寫反咗。呢四個數量詞容易搞亂,因為佢哋喺意思上重疊,但喺文法上唔重疊。

點解咁緊要

Much、many、a lot of 同 plenty of 全部都係答緊「How much?」或者「How many?」呢個問題 —— 但佢哋唔可以互換。揀錯咗,句子就會聽落唔係太正式、就係太外國,又或者悄悄噉壞咗。喺口語入面,a lot of 幾乎乜都頂得住,呢個亦都係學習者過度依賴佢、永遠唔肯定幾時要轉返去用 much 或者 many 嘅部分原因。掌握個規律可以幫你喺寫作、面試同口試入面講得自然。

規律

決定揀邊個嘅兩個因素係:跟住嘅係邊類名詞,以及你身處邊種句子(肯定句、否定句定問句)。

• Many 配可數複數名詞。Many books、many friends、many emails。喺肯定句、否定句同問句都用得,語氣中性。
• Much 配不可數名詞。Much water、much time、much money。喺肯定陳述句裏面聽落正式或者生硬(I have much money 喺傾偈時就唔對路)。佢喺否定句同問句裏面最自在:I do not have much time、Is there much traffic?
• A lot of 兩類名詞都配得,可數複數同不可數都得,主要用喺肯定句同口語。A lot of friends、a lot of water、a lot of work。佢係口語入面嘅預設選擇。
• Plenty of 同樣兩類名詞都配得,而且帶有多過足夠嘅額外意思。We have plenty of time、plenty of seats、plenty of food。佢語氣親切、令人安心。

喺口語入面你亦都會聽到 lots of 同 loads of —— 兩個都係 a lot of 嘅意思,loads of 更加口語化,亦帶少少英式味道。Tons of 就係嗰個大聲、隨意嘅美式兄弟。

有幾個固定短語令 much 同 many 喺肯定陳述句裏面照樣生存:too much salt、too many people、so much fun、so many questions、how much、how many、as much as、as many as。呢啲係固定表達,永遠唔會聽落生硬。

錯誤 / 自然 / 點解

常見情境

喺辦公室。一位同事問:「Do you have much time before your next meeting?」你答:「Not much — about ten minutes.」之後喺會議裏面,你可能會講:「We have a lot of slides to get through」—— 可數、隨意。到尾聲,你嘅主管講:「Great work, plenty of progress today」—— 個 plenty of 顯示出滿意。

喺餐廳。侍應問:「Would you like more bread?」你答:「No thanks, we have plenty.」單獨一個 Plenty、後面冇名詞,意思係 夠晒仲有餘。如果你真係想要多啲,「A little more, please」或者「Just a bit」會比「Yes, much more」親切。

喺機場。你問櫃枱:「Is there much of a line at security?」職員可能會答:「Not much right now」,或者「A lot of people arrived at once — give it twenty minutes.」兩位講者都維持喺自然嘅規律之內:問句用 much,隨意嘅回答用 a lot of people。

講工作與生活。朋友問:「Do you have a lot of work this week?」你答:「Too much, honestly. So many emails and not many breaks.」Too much 配不可數嘅 work;so many 同 not many 配可數複數。

喺超級市場。「How much milk should I buy?」「How many eggs do we need?」呢兩條問句最清楚噉顯示兩個字嘅分別。Milk 不可數,所以 how much;eggs 可數,所以 how many。

講隨意嘅讚美。「Thanks — that helped a lot.」「There is plenty more where that came from.」「Loads of people loved your presentation.」呢三句都帶有 many 單獨做唔到嘅嗰種溫暖、隨意嘅語氣。

常見錯誤

• 喺口語會偏好 a lot of 嘅肯定句裏面用 much。I have much friends 係錯;I have much money 文法啱但聽落生硬。日常傾偈就揀 a lot of。
• 兩者搞亂:much friends、many coffee、many information。永遠問自己:「呢個名詞可唔可以一件件去數?」可以就用 many;唔可以就用 much。
• 唔記得當名詞不可數嘅時候,a lot of 同 plenty of 要配單數動詞。A lot of water is wasted(唔係 are wasted)。Plenty of food was left over。
• 喺數量詞後面嘅不可數名詞加 -s:a lot of informations、plenty of advices、much works。個名詞要維持單數。
• 喺正式寫作過度使用 a lot of。喺論文同報告裏面,偏好用 many、much、a great deal of 或者 a considerable amount of。
• 將 plenty of 當成只係一個花俏版嘅 a lot of。Plenty of 帶有 夠晒仲有餘 嘅意思 —— 當你只係勉強夠用嘅時候用佢,就聽落唔對路。
• 喺名詞前面講 very much,例如 very much money。Very much 係用喺動詞同形容詞(I like it very much、thank you very much)。對於名詞,要講 a lot of money 或者 a great deal of money。

迷你練習

為每句揀最自然嘅數量詞。

1. We do not have ___ time before the train leaves. (much / many / a lot of)
2. There were ___ people at the concert last night. (much / many / plenty of)
3. She drinks ___ water during the day. (much / many / a lot of)
4. ___ snow fell overnight. (Many / Much / A lot of)
5. Do not worry — we have ___ food for everyone. (much / many / plenty of)

總結

將數量詞配返個名詞同句子。Many 配可數複數,much 配不可數(主要喺否定句同問句),a lot of 喺隨意嘅肯定口語裏面兩類都配得,而 plenty of 就用喺你想講 多過足夠 嘅時候。一句講晒:可以數嘅,就用 many;倒出嚟嘅,就用 much 或者 a lot of。

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