Study materials
Listen to a short exchange. The same bread is described with two different words.
Do you have any bread?
Yes, we have some bread.
The bread did not change. The type of sentence did, and that is what decides the word. This topic holds two such choices, and each is made on a different basis.
Some and any: look at the sentence
Both words mean an indefinite quantity and both sit equally before a plural and before an uncountable word. The difference is only in what kind of sentence it is.
| Type of sentence | Example |
|---|---|
| positive | There are some chairs. |
| negative | There aren't any chairs. |
| question | Are there any chairs? |
There is one familiar exception. When you are offering or requesting, some stays in the question: it makes the phrase friendlier.
Would you like some tea?
Can I have some water, please?
Much and many: look at the noun
The second choice works differently. What matters here is not the sentence but whether the word is counted in units.
many books, many people
much time, much money
In everyday speech much and many mostly live in questions and negatives. In an ordinary positive sentence a lot of sounds more natural, and it suits both kinds of word.
We don't have much time.
She has a lot of friends.
How much and how many
Questions about quantity follow the same split. Units are asked about with how many, a mass with how much.
How many bags do you have?
How much rice do we need?
Keep the price question separate. It is always how much, however many things you are buying.
How much is this?
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is taking much for a countable word.
much books → many books
The second is asking about quantity with the wrong word.
How much apples do we need? → How many apples do we need?
The third is putting some into an ordinary question.
Do you have some questions? → Do you have any questions?
All three are caught by two questions. Is this a positive sentence? That settles some or any. Is the word counted in units? That settles many or much.
Try it right now
Say in English what you have enough of at home and what you have none of. One sentence with some, one with any.
Then ask two questions about quantity: one with how many, one with how much.