Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - many

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use many to indicate that you are talking about a large number of people or things. I don’t think many people would argue with that... Not many films are made in Finland... Many holidaymakers had avoided the worst of the delays by consulting tourist offices... Acting is definitely a young person’s profession in many ways. ? few DET: DET pl-n, oft with brd-neg • Many is also a pronoun. We stood up, thinking through the possibilities. There weren’t many. ? few, some PRON • Many is also a quantifier. So, once we have cohabited, why do many of us feel the need to get married?... It seems there are not very many of them left in the sea... QUANT: QUANT of def-pl-n • Many is also an adjective. Among his many hobbies was the breeding of fine horses... The possibilities are many. ADJ: det ADJ, v-link ADJ 2. You use many in expressions such as ‘not many’, ‘not very many’, and ‘too many’ when replying to questions about numbers of things or people. ‘How many of the songs that dealt with this theme became hit songs?’—‘Not very many.’... How many years is it since we’ve seen each other? Too many, anyway. ADV: ADV as reply 3. You use many followed by ‘a’ and a noun to emphasize that there are a lot of people or things involved in something. Many a mother tries to act out her unrealized dreams through her daughter... PREDET c darkgreen]emphasis 4. You use many after ‘how’ to ask questions about numbers or quantities. You use many after ‘how’ in reported clauses to talk about numbers or quantities. How many years have you been here?... No-one knows how many people have been killed since the war began. DET: how DET pl-n • Many is also a pronoun. How many do you smoke a day? PRON: how PRON 5. You use many with ‘as’ when you are comparing numbers of things or people. I’ve always entered as many photo competitions as I can... We produced ten times as many tractors as the United States. DET: as DET pl-n, usu as DET pl-n as cl/group • Many is also a pronoun. Let the child try on as many as she likes. PRON: as PRON 6. You use many to mean ‘many people’. Iris Murdoch was regarded by many as a supremely good and serious writer. PRON 7. The many means a large group of people, especially the ordinary people in society, considered as separate from a particular small group. The printing press gave power to a few to change the world for the many... N-SING: the N 8. You use as many as before a number to suggest that it is surprisingly large. As many as four and a half million people watched today’s parade. PHRASE: PHR num c darkgreen]emphasis 9. You use a good many or a great many to emphasize that you are referring to a large number of things or people. We’ve both had a good many beers... For a great many men and women, romance can be a most important part of marriage. PHRASE: PHR pl-n c darkgreen]emphasis 10. many happy returns: see return in so many words: see word