much people or many people?

Question

which usage is correct? "much people" or "many people" i think its many people but my little bro's english teacher says its "much people" ?!

Answer 1

I wonder it perhaps your brother's teacher has been reading an old Bible translation like the King James.

In today's English the correct expression is "many people", mainly because we can say "How many people" and can answer with a specific number referring the number of individuals. ("Only three people showed up!")

We also can speak of "a people", plural "peoples" (that is "people-group(s)"), much as we speak of "nation(s)".

But in EARLY Modern English, that is, English of the 16th century, it was a little bit different.

To speak about one large group they would say "There were much people".

If you wished to speak about what WE would refer to as "peoples", that is, many different groups, you would say "many people", whereas today we would say "many peoples".

This is the usage you will find in most of the King James Version (1611). Actually, I think the ordinary spoken usage of the early 17th century, and the KJV was simply maintaining the wording of the 16th century translations (in this case, probably the popular Geneva Bible they were looking to replace, and all the way back to William Tyndale's translation in the 1520s).

I know of just TWO verses (in Revelation 10 and 17) where "peoples" is used. This suggests the usage had changed or was changing by the time of the KJV.
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By the way, the rules about "much" for something you do not specifically count, and "many" for things you DO count, nearly always works, but there are a few apparent exceptions (like, I think, "cattle", but let's not get into that now).

That is why I suggested a different test, based on how you ANSWER the question "How many/much X?" If you can answer this question with the SAME word ("X") all but itself, the proper word is "many". If you MUST use a DIFFERENT word or ADDED words, you should say "much".

Thus:
How much money? >> Ten dollars (not "ten money")
How much furniture? >> Three chairs, a couch and two lamps. OR "Four PIECES OF furniture"
How much soup is left? >> Three large bowls.
vs. How MANY SOUPS do you serve? (that is, different KINDS of soups) >> Just three: vegetable, chicken noodle, tomato.

If you need the Bible references (for the King James and Geneva), check here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=much%20people&version1=9&searchtype=phrase
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php?search=people&searchtype=phrase&version1=9&spanbegin=1&spanend=73&startnumber=201&startnumber=501&startnumber=1001
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php?search=peoples&searchtype=phrase&version1=9&spanbegin=1&spanend=73
http://www.studylight.org/desk/?l=en&query=peoples§ion=0&translation=gen&oq=people&new=1&sr=1

Answer 2

How Much People

Answer 3

Many people.

Answer 4

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I took this immigration class this summer in central mexico. It wasnt about statistics or anything like that.. it was a class about the personal story of immigration. What i learned mostly was people are ignorant to the way illegal immigrants mostly mexicans are. Have you noticed that no one cares about illegals from norway or ireland? no because they are white and they speak the same language and have some of the same customs.. but Latino people are darker, speak differently and their country is seen as dirty, lazy, and uneducated. We tie that view of mexico and latin america to the people who inhabit it. America has always had an issue with immigrants before Latinos, it was the irish, and before that we treated africans like dogs.. Why does america do it? I think we are all trying to claim something, find our sincere heritage, and be one united group, and people may think immigrants our infringing on our unity.

Answer 5

Many people. Much is used for stuff that can't be counted individually, e.g., much sugar, much rain (many raindrops because, theoretically, they could be counted - lol)

Answer 6

I think it's many people

Answer 7

It should be many people.

Much is generally used for a singular item...I have too much food on my plate.

Many is used for plural items...I have too many purses in my closet.

Answer 8

Many people ... this wouldn't make sense... "There are much people at the restaurant today!".... haha "there are many people at the restaurant today!" is much better!

Answer 9

many people... much usually refers to quantity and many is for numbers... but u could say much of the population since population is a collective noun there

Answer 10

I'd lean towards "many people" but I think it depends on the sentence.