Let’s talk about how much? how many?🔄

🍎 CAN WE COUNT IT?

Some things are easy to count:

• 🍎 one apple → two apples → three apples
• 👕 one T-shirt → two T-shirts → three T-shirts
• 🥚 one egg → six eggs

These are countable nouns because we can count them.

🔢 COUNTABLE

Singular	Plural
an apple	three apples
a banana	four bananas
an egg	six eggs
a biscuit	ten biscuits
a T-shirt	two T-shirts
a shoe	three shoes

But some things are not normally counted one by one.

For example:

💧 water
🥛 milk
🍚 rice
🍞 bread
🧀 cheese

These are uncountable nouns.

We don’t normally say:

• two waters
• three rices

We can say:

• some water
• some rice
• some bread

🔢 HOW MANY?

Use How many…? with things we can count.

How many apples have you got?
I’ve got three apples.

How many T-shirts do you want?
I want two T-shirts.

How many eggs are there?
There are six eggs.

⭐ Remember!

HOW MANY + plural countable noun

How many apples…? 🍎

How many biscuits…? 🍪

How many shoes…? 👟

💧 HOW MUCH?

Use How much…? with things we don’t normally count individually.

How much water do you drink?
I drink a lot of water.

How much rice do we need?
We need some rice.

We also use How much…? to ask about the price of something.

How much is this T-shirt?
It’s £15.

How much are these shoes?
They’re £40.

⭐ Remember!

HOW MUCH + uncountable noun

How much water…? 💧

How much rice…? 🍚

And:

How much is it? 💷

🥪 HOW MUCH OR HOW MANY?

Let’s compare them.

❓ Question	🧠 Why?
How many apples?	Apples can be counted.
How many biscuits?	Biscuits can be counted.
How many T-shirts?	T-shirts can be counted.
How much water?	Water is uncountable.
How much rice?	Rice is uncountable.
How much cheese?	Cheese is uncountable.

🎯 Easy trick

Ask yourself:

Can I say one, two, three…?

• 👉 Yes → HOW MANY
• 👉 No → HOW MUCH

🛒 HOW MUCH? HOW MANY?

We can also use other expressions to talk about quantities.

🌟 A LOT OF

Use a lot of for a large quantity.

I eat a lot of fruit. 🍎

We have a lot of biscuits. 🍪

There are a lot of T-shirts in the shop. 👕

🔢 MANY

Use many with countable plural nouns.

There are many apples.

How many books have you got?

💧 MUCH

Use much with uncountable nouns.

How much water do you drink?

I don’t drink much milk.

For now, remember much especially in questions and negative sentences.

🙂 A FEW

A few means a small number of things we can count.

I have a few biscuits. 🍪

There are a few apples in the bag. 🍎

💧 A LITTLE

A little means a small amount of something uncountable.

I have a little milk. 🥛

There is a little water in the bottle. 💧

⭐ Quick guide

• a few → countable
• a few apples 🍎
• a few biscuits 🍪
• a little → uncountable
• a little milk 🥛
• a little rice 🍚

🧺 AT THE SUPERMARKET

Read about Oliver and his shopping trip.

Hi! I’m Oliver. Today I’m at the supermarket with my dad. We need some food for dinner.

We buy a lot of vegetables and some chicken. My dad wants six eggs, so we put six eggs in the basket. We also buy some rice and a little cheese.

Then we go to the drinks section. We buy a lot of water and some orange juice.

At the checkout, my dad asks, “How much is it?” The shop assistant says, “It’s £24.”

We take our shopping home. We have everything we need for dinner!

🔎 Let’s check!

1. Who goes to the supermarket with Oliver?
2. What do they need?
3. How many eggs do they buy?
4. What vegetables do they buy?
5. What do they buy in the drinks section?
6. How much cheese do they buy?
7. How much is the shopping?
8. Do they have everything they need?

🛍️ YOUR SHOPPING BASKET

Imagine that you are at the supermarket.

Choose what you want to buy:

🍎 apples
🍌 bananas
🥚 eggs
🍚 rice
🍞 bread
🧀 cheese
🍗 chicken
💧 water
🧃 orange juice

Now answer:

• How many apples do you want?
• How many eggs do you need?
• How much rice do you need?
• How much water do you want?
• How much is your shopping?

🏆 A2 CHALLENGE

Create your own shopping basket.

Write 6–8 sentences using:

• How much…?
• How many…?
• a lot of
• a few
• a little
• at least 4 food or drink words.

Example:

I want a few apples. I need six eggs. I also need a little cheese and a lot of water.

🎮 GAMES — HOW MUCH? HOW MANY?

Practise quantities and shopping expressions!
Try these games and practise rooms in my home

Fichas descargables

📝 Resumen

En esta lección de inglés A2 aprenderás a hablar de cantidades y precios utilizando expresiones como How much?, How many?, a lot of, much, many, a few y a little. También aprenderás a distinguir entre nombres countable y uncountable, algo fundamental para utilizar correctamente estas expresiones. Finalmente, pondrás en práctica todo lo aprendido en una situación cotidiana: hacer la compra en un supermercado.