Cách sử dụng much, many, little, few trong tiếng Anh



A. Cách sử dụng much/little và many/few trong tiếng Anh

    Ta sử dụng muchlittle với các danh từ không đếm được:

Ví dụ:

much time much luck

little energy little money

    manyfew được dùng với các danh từ số nhiều

Ví dụ:

many friends many people

few cars few countries

B. Cách sử dụng a lot of / lots of / plenty of

    Chúng ta sử dụng a lot of / lots of / plenty of với các danh từ không đếm được và các danh từ số nhiều (uncountable and plural nouns).

Ví dụ:

a lot of luck lots of time

plenty of money a lot of friends

lots of people plenty of ideas

plenty = nhiều hơn cần thiết:

- There's no need to hurry. We're got plenty of time.

(Không cần phải vội, chúng ta có dư thời gian.)

- I've had plenty to eat. I don't want any more.

(Tôi đã ăn quá nhiều rồi. Tôi không muốn ăn thêm nữa.)

C. Cách sử dụng much/many trong tiếng Anh

    Chúng ta sử dụng much / many đặc biệt trong các câu phủ định và câu hỏi. A lot (of) cũng có thể được sử dụng như vậy.

Ví dụ:

- We didn't spend much money. (hay We didn't spend a lot of money.)

Chúng ta đã không tiêu hết nhiều tiền.

- Do you know many people? (hay Do you know a lot of people?)

(Bạn có quen biết nhiều người lắm không?)

- I don't go out much. (hay I don't go out a lot.)

(Tôi không hay đi chơi.)

    Trong các câu khẳng định, a lot (of) thường được sử dụng hơn. Trong tiếng Anh đàm thoại, much ít được sử dụng trong các câu khẳng định

Ví dụ:

- We spent a lot of money. (không dùng 'We spent much money')

(Chúng tôi đã tiêu xài khá nhiều tiền.)

- He goes out a lot. (không dùng 'He goes out much')

(Anh ấy hay đi chơi lắm.)

    Bạn có thể sử dụng many trong các câu khẳng định, nhưng a lot (of) thường được sử dụng hơn trong đàm thoại:

Ví dụ:

- A lot of people (hay many people) drive too fast.

Có nhiều người lái xe rất nhanh.

    Nhưng bạn hãy lưu ý rằng chúng ta sử dụng too muchtoo many trong các câu khẳng định.

Ví dụ:

- We spent too much money.

(Chúng ta đã tiêu xài khá nhiều tiền.)

D. Cách sử dụng little và few trong tiếng Anh

    Littlefew (không có a) có nghĩa phủ định (= not much / not many):

Ví dụ:

- We must be quick. There is little time. (= not much, not enough time)

(Chúng ta phải nhanh lên, còn ít thời gian lắm.)

- He isn't popular. He has few friends. (= not many, not enough friends)

(Anh ấy không được ưa thích lắm. Anh ấy có ít bạn bè.)

Bạn có thể nói very littlevery few:

- There is very little time.

(Còn rất ít thời gian.)

- He has very few friends.

(Anh ấy có rất ít bạn bè.)

a littlea few có nghĩa khẳng định hơn.

  • A little = một vài, một số lượng ít:

    - Let's go and have a drink. We're got a little time before the train leaves.

    (Chúng ta đi uống gì đi. Chúng ta còn chút thời gian trước khi tàu chạy.)

    (a little time = chút thời gian, đủ để uống thứ gì đó)

    - "Do you speak English?" "A little." (so we can talk a bit)

    ("Bạn nói được tiếng Anh không?" "Một chút ít thôi".)

  • A few = một ít, một số nhỏ:

    - I enjoy my life here. I have a few friends and we meet quite often.

    (Tôi hài lòng với cuộc sống của tôi nơi đây. Tôi có vài người bạn và chúng tôi gặp nhau khá thường xuyên.)

    (a few friends = không nhiều, nhưng đủ để giao lưu, vui chơi)

    - "When did you last see Clare?" "A few days ago." (= some days ago)

    ("Anh gặp Clare lần cuối khi nào?" "Mấy hôm trước.")

So sánh:

1. little và a little

- He spoke little English, so it was difficult to communicate with him.

(Anh ta nói tiếng Anh được ít, cho nên nói chuyện với anh ta rất khó khăn.)

- He spoke a little English, so we were able to communicate with him.

(Anh ấy nói được chút ít tiếng Anh, cho nên chúng tôi đã có thể nói chuyện với anh ấy.)

2. few và a few

- She's lucky. She has few problems. (= not many problems)

(Cô ấy thật may mắn. Cô ấy ít gặp chuyện phiền phức.)

- Things are not going so well for her. She has a few problems. (= some problems)

(Mọi việc không suôn sẻ với cô ấy. Cô ấy gặp một ít chuyện phiền phức.)

Lưu ý rằng only a littleonly a few có nghĩa phủ định:

- We must be quick. We've only got a little time.

(Chúng ta cần phải khẩn trương. Chúng ta chỉ có ít thời gian.)

- The village was very small. There were only a few houses.

(Ngôi làng rất nhỏ. Nơi đó chỉ có vài ngôi nhà.)

Bài tập

Exercise 1. Choose the correct answer.

Mobile phone of the month: the Sassnug Scroll S20

There are (1) many / much new phones in the shops this month, but our favourite is definitely the new Scroll S20, by Sassnug. (2) No / All smartphones these days come with (3) some / any free apps, but the Scroll S20 has (4) a little / a few really good ones, like an app for finding Wi-Fi when you’re in town. The Scroll S20 is a bit more expensive than other smartphones, but (5) each / any phone comes with a leather case.

Đáp án:

1. many

2. all

3. some

4. a few

5. each

Exercise 2. Choose the correct answer.

Taewou have just produced two new phones. TeenTech Magazine looked at (1) all / both of them, but we think the T100 is the better model. It doesn’t take (2) much / most time to get used to using the phone, and it’s got (3) any / some great gadgets. The camera on the phone recognises your face, so criminals can’t use your phone. It also means that you don’t have to use a password (4) every / all time you switch the phone on. It’s a great phone at a great price, but it doesn’t come with (5) many / much good apps.

Đáp án:

1. both

2. much

3. some

4. every

5. many

Exercise 3. Choose the best answer.

1. I can’t help you to set up your website because I haven’t got _____ time today.

A. much

B. little

C. any

2. Matt logged onto Facebook and read _____ messages.

A. much

B. a few

C. some

3. ______ of my friends liked my selfie.

A. all

B. none

C. either

4. Dad gave _____ of us £10 to spend.

A. each

B. both

C. any

5. They make ______ of these phones in Taiwan.

A. most

B. all

C. every

Đáp án:

1. B

2. A

3. C

4. C

5. C

Exercise 4. Choose a word from the table below to fill each blank. Some words may be used more than once.

many

a little

any

some

less    

little

fewer

much

a great deal of

a few

a lot of

few

1. The museum was very crowded. There were too ______ people.

2. Jack knows ______ Japanese, but his brother knows enough Japanese to manage.

3. Eating out seems to be expensive in this sumptuous city. There aren't

______ cheap restaurants.

4. She had ______time to study than I did but had better results.

5. Try to avoid foods which contain ______ fat.

6. We've been having ______ problems with the new computer.

7. In the developed world, there are hardly ______  jobs left which don't use computers to carry out many daily tasks.

8. We only have ______ apples. We should go and buy some more.

9. ______ my friends are living abroad now.

10. There are ______ slices of cake left over from the party.

11. She has spent ______ time in Europe to learn English and French with a view to finding a better job.

12. There aren't very ______ weekends between now and Christmas.

13. "Is there ______ butter I could use?" "No, there's some margarine but there isn't ______ butter."

14. If I drink too ______ coffee, I can't sleep.

15. How ______ liquid do you think this bottle contains?

16. I eat ______ chocolate and ______ biscuits than I used to.

17. Lots of people at the club are under 20, but there are quite ______ who aren't.

18. It was embarrassing how _____ people attended the party.

20. The weather is expected to remain clear for the next ______ days.

Đáp án:

1. many

2. little

3. any

4. less

5. a great deal of / much

6. a lot of / many / some / a few

7. any

8. a few

9. a lot of

10. some

11. much / a great deal of / a lot of

12. many

13. any

14. much

15. much

16. less / fewer

17. a few

18. any

19. many

20. few

Exercise 5. Choose the best answer to complete each of the following sentences.

1. Could you lend me ______more? I’ve spent ______ money you gave me yesterday.

A. any - some

B. some - the

C. the - the

D. some - Ø

2. I had to pay ______ for these shoes than I expected to.

A. far more

B. the most

C. very much

D. too many

3. I can remember the main plot of the novel but almost ______ of the details.

A. little

B. anything

C. none

D. all

4. He turned down the offer on grounds of health, but I think there were ______ reasons behind his decision.

A. some other

B. another

C. such

D. any other

5. ______of the great libraries of ancient times survived; ______ were destroyed in fires, or by volcanoes, others in wars and invasions.

A. None - some

B. Neither - many

C. Many – much

D. Some - a little

Đáp án:

1. B

2. A

3. C

4. A

5. A

Bài tập cách sử dụng Much, many, little, few

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