How much and How many

The words much and many mean a lot of.

• If a noun is in singular, we use much

  Example: much money

• If a noun is in plural, we use many

  Example: many friends

Use of much / many

In everyday English, we normally use much / many only in questions and negative clauses.

Example:

How much money have you got?

Carla does not have many friends.

In positive clauses with so, as or too, we also use much / many.

Example:

Carla has so many friends.

She has as many friends as Sue.

Kevin has too much money.

In all other positive clauses, however, we prefer expressions like a lot of / lots of.

Example:

Carla has a lot of / lots of friends.

Kevin has a lot of / lots of money.

In formal texts, however, much / many are also common in positive clauses. This you will notice for example when you read English news.

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

In connection with much / many people often speak of countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number (that's why they are called 'countable nouns'). Countable nouns take many.

Example:

100 friends – many friends

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns cannot be used with a number (that's why they are called 'uncountable nouns'). Uncountable nouns take much.

Example:

100 money – much money

Note: Of course you can count money – but then you would name the currency and say that you have got 5 euro (but not „5 money“).