BBC Learning English Ask about English Many/Much/A lot of/Lots of

Nancy from Hong Kong has four questions for us: Question 1: I read from your site that 'lots of' and 'a lot of' are used in answers, whereas 'many' and 'much' are used in questions and negatives, but can we say 'There are many people in the park'? Question 2: What's the difference between 'on' and 'on top of'? Shall we say 'I put the book on the table' or 'I put the book on top of the table'? Question 3: I know 'cake' is both countable and uncountable. Do I use it correctly in the following situations? 'What food do you like?' 'I like lemon cakes.' 'What do you want to have for tea?' 'I want some lemon cake, please.' Question 4: I know we should say 'Tom is at home' and 'Tom's school uniform is in his aunt's home', but can we say 'Tom's school uniform is at his aunt's home'? 'Many/Much/A lot of/Lots of'

Mark Shea answers: Hi Nancy, It's great to hear that you're making good use of our BBC Learning English site! Lots of questions here so lets get started straight away.

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For the first question about 'many' and 'much', I think the original advice was very good: we tend to use 'many' and 'much' in questions and negatives, and use 'lots of' or 'a lot of' in affirmative statements - certainly in spoken English at least. For example: "There are lots of people in the street" AND "That is a lot of milk " are affirmative statements. "There arent many people in the street ," is negative and "How much milk do you want?" is a question.

Grammatically speaking, there is nothing wrong with: "There are many people in the park, " but in spoken English, we're far more likely use: "There are lots of people in the park."

But in more formal writing, its probably true that we prefer 'many' and 'much' to 'a lot of' and 'lots of', so if youre speaking or writing to friends, it should be: "There are lots of cars in the street," or "People have written a lot about it." But if you want to be more formal, perhaps "There were many cars in the street that day" or "Much has been written about it" might sound better.

Moving onto your second question, Nancy: Sometimes there is little difference between 'on' and 'on top of'. Perhaps we would tend to use 'on' more for surfaces where you might expect things to be placed - for example: "Its on the table" "Its on my desk" "Its on the floor".

But we use 'on top of' when its a more unusual place to leave things: "I put my suitcase on top of the wardrobe" OR

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"I put the presents in my backpack and placed some clothes carefully on top of them." So "I put the book on the table" sounds better than: "I put the book on top of the table."

Now, on to your third question, Nancy! As you rightly say, 'cake', like many other nouns, is both countable and uncountable .

Its common to use the countable version when were talking about small cakes made for just one person, for example, cupcakes. I think 'lemon cake' is more likely to be made in a larger size, and cut into slices. And as people often only eat one slice, I would say: "I like cupcakes, but I prefer lemon cake."

Finally, we come to 'house' and 'home'. 'A house' is a physical building; a home is much, much more. Its something psychological - it means that its not just a building; its more than just a location. 'A home' is somewhere where you feel comfortable; where you feel you belong. Quite often, it's the place where we grew up, or where our parents still live. We often divide our lives into the time we are 'at home' and the time we are 'out'. For this reason, I wouldnt say: "Tom's school uniform is in his aunt's home" OR "Tom's school uniform is at his aunt's home" because in both cases, we are simply referring to a physical location. So it would be better to say: "Tom's school uniform is at his aunt's house."

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Thanks for all the great questions Nancy! Mark Shea has been a teacher and teacher trainer for fifteen years. He has taught English and trained teachers extensively in Asia and South America, and is a qualified examiner for the University of Cambridge oral examinations. He is currently working with journalists and is the author of the BBC College of Journalism's online English tutor.

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