Much / many 看似基本,但台灣學生因為對可數 / 不可數分類不清,考場上還是會寫 many informations 或 much problems——Grammar 直接扣。
為什麼是 Taiwanese 特有錯誤
中文「很多」一個詞搞定所有名詞——「很多水、很多錢、很多學生、很多問題」都一樣。英文強制把 quantifier 分成兩組:
- 可數複數 → many / few / a few / several
- 不可數 → much / little / a little / a great deal of
基礎搭配表
| 量詞 | 可數複數 | 不可數 | 意思 | |------|---------|--------|------| | many | ✓ | ✗ | 很多 | | much | ✗ | ✓ | 很多 | | a lot of / lots of | ✓ | ✓ | 很多(口語萬用)| | plenty of | ✓ | ✓ | 大量 | | few | ✓ | ✗ | 幾乎沒有(負面)| | a few | ✓ | ✗ | 有一些(正面)| | little | ✗ | ✓ | 幾乎沒有(負面)| | a little | ✗ | ✓ | 有一點(正面)| | several | ✓ | ✗ | 好幾個 | | a number of | ✓ | ✗ | 一些(正式) | | a great deal of | ✗ | ✓ | 大量(正式) | | an amount of | ✗ | ✓ | 一定量(正式) |
❌ Wrong vs ✅ Correct
| ❌ Wrong | ✅ Correct | 解釋 | |----------|-----------|------| | many informations | a lot of information | information 不可數 | | much students | many students | students 可數 | | a few money | a little money | money 不可數 | | little books | few books | books 可數 | | a number of traffic | a great deal of traffic | traffic 不可數 | | several advice | several pieces of advice | advice 不可數,要量化 |
Few vs A few(關鍵語意差異)
- I have few friends.(我幾乎沒朋友——負面)
- I have a few friends.(我有幾個朋友——正面)
Little vs a little 同理:
- I have little time.(幾乎沒時間——負面)
- I have a little time.(還有一點時間——正面)
少了 a,意思翻轉——IELTS 考官最愛這個細節。
正式寫作升級
IELTS Writing Task 2 別一直用 many / much / a lot of。升級版:
| 口語 | 學術升級 | |------|---------| | a lot of people | a large number of people / numerous people | | many problems | a wide range of problems / various problems | | much money | a considerable amount of money / substantial funding | | a lot of information | a wealth of information / extensive data |
Quick Drill — 10 題填空
選 many / much / a few / a little / few / little:
- How ___ sugar do you want?
- There are ___ good reasons to exercise.
- She has very ___ time for hobbies.(幾乎沒時間)
- I have ___ friends in London.(有幾個)
- Too ___ homework causes stress.
- Only ___ students passed the exam.(很少)
- We need ___ patience.(一點)
- There isn't ___ milk left.
- ___ countries have solved this problem.(很少數)
- I read ___ books last month.(有幾本)
Answer Key
| # | 答案 | 解釋 | |---|------|------| | 1 | much | sugar 不可數 | | 2 | many | reasons 可數 | | 3 | little | 負面 + 不可數 | | 4 | a few | 正面 + 可數 | | 5 | much | homework 不可數 | | 6 | few | 負面 + 可數 | | 7 | a little | 正面 + 不可數 | | 8 | much | 否定句 + 不可數 | | 9 | Few | 負面 + 可數 | | 10 | a few | 正面 + 可數 |
記住這一條
寫完檢查:every many / much / few / little 一定要配對可數 / 不可數——錯一次扣一分,錯三次 Grammar Band 直接下修。
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