Repasamos cuándo usar much y many en inglés para hablar de cantidad y en expresiones como how much/how many, too much/too many. Porque aunque usamos estas palabras muy a menudo, no siempre lo tenemos claro.

A la hora de usar much y many para hablar de cantidad, es importante tener claro qué son los sustantivos contables e incontables porque es el elemento que nos va a ayudar a decidir cuándo usar uno u otro. A rasgos muy generales y como su nombre indica los sustantivos contables son aquellos que podemos contar (por unidades) y tienen una forma en plural y los incontables son aquellos que no podemos contar de manera individual y no suelen tener una forma en plural (por ejemplo: money, time, sugar, water…). Esto es algo así muy general, sin entrar en muchos detalles, pero simplemente para que lo tengas en cuenta.

MUCH

usamos much + uncountable nouns, es decir, con sustantivos incontables.

A menudo usamos not much en frases con significado negativo, no es frecuente usar much en frases afirmativas.

e.g.
We don’t have much time.
I don’t drink much coffee.
There isn’t much to do here.

MANY

usamos many + plural countable nouns, es decir, con sustantivos contables en plural.

Podemos usar many en frases afirmativas y negativas, pero quizá es más común usar not many, al igual que sucede con not much.

e.g.
She doesn’t have many friends here.
There are (not) many shops in this street.
I didn’t buy many things.

Ya hemos visto brevemente la principal diferencia entre usar much y many y hemos comentado  que es común usarlas en frases negativas. Esto es así porque si queremos hablar de cantidad en frases afirmativas, es más frecuente usar la expresión a lot of.

A LOT OF

usamos a lot of  tanto con sustantivos contables como incontables, aquí no hay problema porque no es necesario diferenciarlos como sucede al usar much y many. Observa

e.g.
He drinks a lot of coffee.
We have a lot of friends in this city.
She has a lot of things to do at work.

Además de usar much y many con sustantivos también nos encontramos con how much y how many cuando queremos hacer preguntas. 

HOW MUCH / HOW MANY

usamos how much por una parte para preguntar el precio de algo (¿cuánto cuesta?)

e.g.
How much is it?
How much is this bag?
How much are these shoes?

y por otra parte usamos how much para preguntar sobre la cantidad con sustantivos incontables

e.g.
How much time do we have?
How much coffee do you drink?
How much money did you spend?

usamos how many solo para preguntar sobre la cantidad, con sustantivos contables en plural

e.g.
How many people will come?
How many books did you buy?
How many countries have you visited?

Como ves, al usar how much y how many seguimos la misma pauta que al usar much y many, es decir, much con sustantivos incontables y many con sustantivos contables en plural.

Vamos a ver ahora el caso de too much y too many, también siguiendo la misma pauta.

TOO MUCH / TOO MANY

en este caso, el significado no varía si usamos uno u otro, si añadimos too, significa “demasiado” en el sentido de más de lo necesario. Lo que sí cambia es cuándo usar too much o too many. Al igual que en los casos anteriores la pauta es la misma, usamos too much con sustantivos incontables.

e.g.
We have too much work to do this week.
I have drunk too much coffee today.
There was too much food at the wedding.

usamos too many con sustantivos contables en plural.

e.g.
There were too many tourists in the city.
I have too many things in my head.
She asks too many questions.

Seguro que ahora te queda más claro cómo y cuando usar much y many, también en las expresiones how much/many y too much/many. Recuerda que much acompaña a sustantivos incontables y many a sustantivos contables y ya lo tienes!

Hey buddies, el post de hoy es una recopilación de errores comunes en inglés que cometemos a menudo, a veces porque cambiamos la preposición que toca, o porque nos equivocamos con una palabra o también porque traducimos literalmente. Ponte cómodo porque te detallamos nada más y nada menos que 30 common mistakes que no debes cometer más.

1 We say coworkers, work mates or colleagues, not partners para referirnos a nuestros compañeros de trabajo

 My partners are really helpful.
 My coworkers are really helpful.

2 We say at work, not in the job en expresiones como

 I sometimes surf on the internet in the job.
 I sometimes surf on the internet at work.

3 We say hire mejor que contract, cuando contratamos a un empleado

 Things are going well, we will contract more employees.
 Things are going well, we will hire more employees.

4 We say a business grows, not grows up para decir que el negocio crece

 Our business is growing up and increasing sales.
 Our business is growing and increasing sales.

Utilizamos grow up para referirnos a las personas cuando crecen / maduran

 He’s now a grown up person.
 Children grow up really fast.

5 We say I agree, not I am agree para mostrar nuestro acuerdo

 I am agree with your idea.
 I agree with your idea.

6 We say I think so / I don’t think so, not I think that yes / no para decir creo que sí / no

 Would you come? I think that yes / no.
 Would you come? I think so / I don’t think so.

7 We say I have no idea, not I don’t have an idea para decir no tengo ni idea

 Is she here? I don’t have an idea.
 Is she here? I have no idea.

8 We say leave me alone, not leave me in peace cuando queremos que nos dejen en paz

 Please, leave me in peace, I’m busy now.
 Please, leave me alone, I’m busy now.

9 We say from now on, not since now para decir de ahora en adelante

 We will have new regulations since now.
 We will have new regulations from now on.

10 We say so far, not until now para decir hasta ahora, hasta este momento

 What have they done until now?
 What have they done so far?

11 We say it depends on, not it depends of

 I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. It depends of the weather.
 I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. It depends on the weather.

12 We say related to, not related with

 This is a problem related with the internet signal.
 This is a problem related to the internet signal.

13 We say contact someone, not contact with someone

 I’ll contact with her because I need more information.
 I’ll contact her because I need more information.

14 We say trust someone, not trust in someone

 I trust in my employees to do a good job when I’m not in the office.
 I trust my employees to do a good job when I’m not in the office.

15 We say worry about, not worry for algo o alguien

 Her mother worries for her a lot.
 Her mother worries about her a lot.

16 We say think about / of, not think in. Si imaginamos algo, utilizamos think of / about, si estamos considerando algo utilizamos think about

 I’m thinking in my future and deciding what I want to do.
 I’m thinking about my future and deciding what I want to do.

17 We say similar to, not similar than

 This app is very similar than another one.
 This app is very similar to another one.

18 We say the same as, not the same than or the same to

 He’s the same than his father. They have similar personalities.
 He’s the same as his father. They have similar personalities.

19 We say in the world, not of the world para decir del mundo

 Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players of the world.
 Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players in the world.

20 We say arrive in/at a place, not arrive to a place

 I arrived to work at 9 a.m.
 I arrived at work at 9 a.m.

We use arrive in con lugares como ciudades (London, Paris, etc.).

 We arrived in Paris last Friday.

We use arrive at al referirnos a un sitio en concreto (the bank, the restaurant, work, home, etc.).

 They arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes late.

21 We say go home, not go to home

 She decided to go to home after the theatre.
 She decided to go home after the theatre.

22 We say parking lot, not parking para referirnos a un aparcamiento

 The parking was full, so we parked on the street.
 The parking lot was full, so we parked on the street.

23 We say on the bus / train / plane, not in the bus / plane / train

 Sometimes I read when I’m in the bus.
 Sometimes I read when I’m on the bus.

We say in with cars, vans, trucks, etc.

 Let’s get on the car.
 Let’s get in the car.

24 We say to miss, not to lose a bus / train / plane

 You will lose the train if you don’t hurry up.
 You will miss the train if you don’t hurry up.

25 We say waste time, not lose time para decir perder el tiempo

 Sam loses a lot of time watching TV.
 Sam wastes a lot of time watching TV.

26 We say spend time, not pass time para decir pasar tiempo con

 On the weekend, she likes to pass time with her husband.
 On the weekend, she likes to spend time with her husband.

27 We say to have (or to throw) a party, not to make or do a party

 They are making a party next Saturday.
 They are having / throwing a party next Saturday.

28 We say to have a drink, not to take a drink

 Let’s take a drink after work.
 Let’s have a drink after work.

29 We say to sunbathe, not to take the sun

 She loves taking the sun on the beach.
 She loves sunbathing on the beach.

30 We say to make mistakes, not to have errors or have mistakes.

 My English is okay, but I have a lot of mistakes.
 My English is okay, but I make a lot of mistakes.

No te preocupes si te identificas con algunos (o muchos) de ellos, son los errores más comunes que cometemos los hispano hablantes. Anota con los que más te equivocas para repasarlos, pero vuelve a esta lista siempre que lo necesites o tengas dudas.