Definition many in British English

Many can be used in the following ways:

as a determiner (followed by a plural noun): It happened many years ago.How many children have you?

as a pronoun: ‘Did he write any other books?’ ‘Not many.’ (followed by ‘of’): Many of you will be going on to university.

as a predeterminer (followed by the indefinite article ‘a’ and a singular noun): We shall not see each other again for many a long day.

as an adjective (after a word such as ‘the’, ‘his’, or ‘these’, and followed by a noun): He said goodbye to his many friends.

as a noun in the phrase the many: The few who behave badly spoil the enjoyment of the many.

Many, a lot, and lots can be used for referring to a large number of things or people. In ordinary spoken English many is mainly used in negative sentences and in questions. It is also used in positive sentences after ‘too’, ‘so’, or ‘as’: We didn’t sell many tickets.Were there many children in the audience?You’re trying to do too many things at once.

In positive statements a lot of is usually used instead of many: A lot of people don’t like the new law.

In written English and in formal spoken English many is used in sentences of all types. It is more formal than a lot of: Many disabled people regularly use public transport.

In informal English, lots of is often used instead of a lot of: Lots of people get divorced these days.