many

Many is an English determiner and pronoun used to indicate a large number of countable items. It typically accompanies plural nouns (many books, many ideas). It is not normally used with noncount nouns such as water or sand; for those, many is replaced by much, a lot of, or lots of. In formal style, many often occurs in statements and questions about quantity.

Grammatical notes: With interrogatives, you say How many? Example: How many apples are there? In negatives or with small quantities, you can say There aren’t many options. In affirmative clauses: There are many reasons to stay. The phrase as many as is used to emphasize a larger-than-expected quantity (as many as twenty people). A less formal substitute is lots of or a lot of, especially in spoken English. In some older or literary contexts, many a is used before a singular noun (many a night she dreamed).

Origin and usage history: Many derives from Old English manig, related to other Germanic languages; it has cognates in Dutch veel, German viele, and other languages. Over time it developed into the modern determiner and pronoun used for count nouns.

Other uses: Many also appears as a proper noun in place names, such as the town of Many in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is also used as a surname or given name in some cases.

See also: quantifier, count noun.