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Quantifiers

 
 
Alex80
 
Reply Mon 25 May, 2015 04:29 am
Hi everyone. 1.Why is "a little" not "much" the correct choice?
"Can you lend me a little money?" Is it because it's a polite request or what? Because I know that "much" is used in questions not "a little".
2."I've met her a few times." Can I use "many" instead of "a few".
3."There's a little space left." Can I use " much" instead of " a little".
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FBM
 
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Reply Mon 25 May, 2015 06:05 am
@Alex80,
Alex80 wrote:

Hi everyone. 1.Why is "a little" not "much" the correct choice?
"Can you lend me a little money?" Is it because it's a polite request or what? Because I know that "much" is used in questions not "a little".


I think "much" is used in questions and in negative statements before uncountable nouns, such as, "I don't have much time" or "He didn't have much to say."

Quote:
2."I've met her a few times." Can I use "many" instead of "a few".


Yes. Of course, the meaning changes.

Quote:
3."There's a little space left." Can I use " much" instead of " a little".


No, that's very awkward, even though it's understandable. See my above statement about "much."

I hope that's helpful.
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Alex80
 
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Reply Mon 25 May, 2015 06:53 am
Fine.But why I can't say: "Can I lend you much money?" It's a question, using "much" is awkward here...Why??????
FBM
 
  2  
Reply Mon 25 May, 2015 07:05 am
@Alex80,
Alex80 wrote:

Fine.But why I can't say: "Can I lend you much money?" It's a question, using "much" is awkward here...Why??????



Because languages aren't terribly logical. We don't choose words as individual, interchangeable units, like parts of a machine. Rather, we choose language items in clumps called collocations, idioms, set phrases, etc, based on our exposure to conventional usages, logical or not. So, at home I might learn to use "ain't no," but at school they'll tell me not to.

Instead of trying to analyze any language using logic, it's far better to simply learn the conventions. I recommend googling Krashen's Second Language Acquisition Theory. It's not flawless, but it explains a lot.
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