many vs. a lot of

[Lisa Huang]

A:How many books are there?
B:There are a lot of books.

May I use "many" instead of "a lot of" in B?
B:There are many books.
Is there any different meaning between them?

 

[verity17]

You can use either sentence in this example.
The difference between "many" and "alot" is that
"many" means a large number of something eg. many people
whereas "a lot" can mean either a large number, or a large amount of something eg. a lot of people or a lot of water

 

[Lisa Huang]

You can use either sentence in this example.
The difference between "many" and "alot" is that
"many" means a large number of something eg. many people
whereas "a lot" can mean either a large number, or a large amount of something eg. a lot of people or a lot of water

C:How much milk is there?
D:There is a lot of milk.
D1:There is much milk.

Is D1 correct?
If so, is D1 common in oral speaking?

 

[verity17]

NO, I don't think D1 is correct. I've never heard it.
It is very normal, however, to say
"there is a lot of milk"
That is very common in speech.

 

[cuchuflete]

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many - a lot of