Example 1:
Why do we say many people and not much people?
Because people is a countable noun (nouns you can count), many is used for countable nouns. Much is used for uncountable (nouns you cannot count).
Example 2:
Why can’t I say “much tired”?
Because tired is an adjective and much goes with uncountable nouns.
Understanding them will help you put them in the proper place and order and thus, help you to speak a better English.
Ok, what is an adjective? What is a noun? They are parts of the speech and they work together. Here is the explanation and how to use them.
Noun: According to Oxford dictionary “A word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun) or a word to name a particular one of these (proper noun)”. In other words: everything has a name. These names are called nouns. Therefore nouns are names of words.
Common Nouns:
Person: man, woman, teacher, etc
Place: home, office, town, countryside, etc
Thing: table, car, banana, money, music, love
Animal: dog, monkey, etc
Proper Nouns:
Person: John, Mary, Paul, Anna, etc
Place: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, Paris, New York, Legoland, etc
Others: Burj Khalifa, Atlantic Ocean, Mount Kilimanjaro
Adjective: According to Oxford dictionary: “A word naming an attribute of an noun, such as sweet, red, or technical”.
Basically, they are used to describe a noun.
*They are words used for describing:
Quality: Good food (good describes the quality)
Color: Red shoes (red describes the color of the shoes)
Size: Big house (big describes the size)
Shape: Square pizza (square describes the shape)
*They also describe how someone or something looks, tastes, feels, smells or sounds like.
Beautiful girl (Beautiful describes the looks of the girl)
Sweet cake (Sweet describes the taste)
Hard rock (hard describes the feel)
Lovely smell of coffee (lovely describes the smell)
Low voice (low describes the sound of the voice)
For more information, watch the video our TLC language coach, Carol made for you this week: