used with uncountable nouns, especially in negative sentences to mean ‘a large amount of something’, or after ‘how’ to ask about the amount of something. It is also used with ‘as’, ‘so’ and ‘too’. （与不可数名词连用，尤用于否定句；或与 how 连用以询问数量；也可与 as、so 和 too 连用）许多，大量 I don't have much money with me. 我没带多少钱。 ‘Got any money?’ ‘Not much.’ “有钱吗？” “不太多。” How much water do you need? 你要多少水？ How much is it (= What does it cost)? 这东西多少钱？ Take as much time as you like. 你想花多少时间就花多少时间。 There was so much traffic that we were an hour late. 路上交通很拥堵，我们因此迟到了一个小时。 I've got far too much to do. 我要做的事情太多了。 - (formal)
I lay awake for much of the night. 我大半夜都没睡着。 - (formal)
There was much discussion about the reasons for the failure. 就失败的原因进行了大量的讨论。
Grammar Point much / a lot of / lots ofmuch / a lot of / lots of- Much is used only with uncountable nouns. It is used mainly in questions and negative sentences:
much 只与不可数名词连用，主要用于疑问句和否定句中： Do you have much free time? 你空闲时间多吗？ How much experience have you had? 你经验如何？ I don’t have much free time. 我没有多少空闲时间。
- In statements a lot of or lots of (informal) is much more common:
在陈述句中 a lot of 或 lots of（非正式）常用得多： ‘How much (money) does she earn? “她挣多少（钱）？” She earns a lot of money. 她挣很多钱。
亦可用 plenty (of)。以上短语亦可用于疑问句和否定句中。 - A lot of/lots of is still felt to be informal, especially in British English, so in formal writing it is better to use much, a great deal of or a large amount of.
- Very much and a lot can be used as adverbs:
very much 和 a lot 可作副词： I miss my family very much. 我很想念我的家人。 - I miss very much my family.
I miss my family a lot. 我很想念我的家人。 Thanks a lot. 多谢。
在否定句中可用 much： I didn’t enjoy the film (very) much. 我不大喜欢这部影片。
Word OriginMiddle English: shortened from muchel, from Old English micel ‘great, numerous, much’, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Greek megas, megal-.
Idioms
as much
as much as somebody can do
a bit much
- (informal)
not fair or not reasonable 不是很好；不怎么样 It's a bit much calling me at three in the morning. 凌晨三点钟打电话给我，太过分了。 The noise from next door is getting a bit much. 从隔壁传来的声音越来越大，使人受不了了。
make much of something/somebody
to treat something/somebody as very important 一样；同等 He always makes much of his humble origins. 他总是非常在意他卑微的出身。
not much in it
not much of a…
this much
too much
a situation or experience that is too difficult to deal with （表示难以做到） It all proved too much for him. 事实证明，这一切对他来说太多了。