Video Used to

Much / many / a lot of / lots of

Grammar

1. Quantifiers - Much / Many / A Lot of

Quantifiers are words that show how much there is of something - they show quantity. Much, many, and a lot of indicate a large quantity of something, for example "I have a lot of milk" means I have a large quantity of milk.

Much

Much is used with uncountable nouns, and is generally used in negative statements and questions. It's uncommon to use much in positive statements. For example:
- I don't have much money.
- Do you have much time?
- "I have much time." This sounds unusual.

Many

Many is used with plural countable nouns, and is often used in negative statements and questions. It is also used in positive statements however. For example:
- I don't have many apples.
- Do you have many friends?
- Many people come here in summer.

Much and many can be used in affirmative statements, but give a more formal meaning. For example:
- He has many good friends from Harvard University.

Much and many often appear in short answers. For example:
- Do you see your family much?
- No, not much.

A lot of

A lot of is used with uncountable and countable nouns, and is generally used for affirmative statements. For example:
- I have a lot of friends.
- I have a lot of time.

A lot of is also used in questions, especially when you expect a positive response. Although it is often said that much and many are used for questions, we usually use them for questions which expect a negative response. For example:
- Do you want a lot of pizza?
I expect you want to eat a lot.
- Do you want much pizza?
This sounds unusual, as though I expect you don't want to eat much.

Lots of can be used in the same way as a lot of, often in informal speech. For example:
- I have lots of time.
- I have a lot of time.

How much / many?

How much is used to ask about the price of something. For example:
- How much is it?
- How much is that dog in the window?

How much and How many are used to ask about quantity. For example:
- How much money do you have?
- How many apples does he have?

Fuente: http://www.1-language.com/englishcourse/unit14_grammar.htm

How much? / How many?

How much? - How many? (Contables e incontables)
En ingles cuando queremos preguntar acerca de la cantidad de un sustantivo incontable, usamos
la estructura:
“How much + sustantivo + is there?

Ejemplo: How much milk is there ? = ¿ cuanta leche hay ?

En las respuestas se puede usar un partitivo no especifico como; a lot ( un montón ),
a little ( un poco ), none ( nada ), some ( algo ).

Ejemplo: How much milk is there ? = There is a little.
¿ Cuanta leche hay ? hay un poco

O por el contrario podemos usar partitivos especificos de unidad o medida o peso para especificar las cantidades;

Ejemplo: How much milk is there? = There is a litre, there is a bottle, etc..
¿Cuanta leche hay? Hay un litro, una botella, etc..

Si queremos preguntar acerca de la cantidad de un sustantivo contable, usamos la estructura:

“ How many + sustantivo + are there ?

Ejemplo: How many oranges are there ? = ¿ Cuantas naranjas hay ?

En las respuestas se usa: a lot (un monton), a few (unas pocas), too many, demasiadas), o none ( ninguna), some ( algunas), si queremos especificar cantidades entonces usamos partitivos contables del tipo; un kilo, un litro, un paquete, una bolsa, one, two, etc.

How much y how many se usan para preguntas en general acerca de cosas, cuando queremos que se nos indique las cantidades que hay, entonces how much y how many van acompañados de is there o are there.

Ejemplos: How much water is there? = There is 1 litre.
How many students are there? = There are eleven students in class.

Tambien existe otra forma de preguntar cuando no estamos seguros de si hay algo o no, y es usando, Is there + any + sustantivo (para incontables) o Are there + any + sustantivos (para contables)

Ejemplo: Is there any bread ? - ¿Hay algo de pan?
Yes, there is - Si hay
Are there any apples? - ¿Hay alguna manzana?
Yes there are - Si hay

Si quieres especificar la cantidad o cantidades, pues usas there is o there are + partitivo(s)

Ejemplo: There is a loaf of bread. Hay una barra de pan.
There are two loaves of bread. Hay dos barras de pan.
There is an apple. Hay una manzana.
There are three apples. Hay tres manzanas.

Apuntes especiales.

En inglés los líquidos, materias y substancias son incontables, en este apartado debemos de incluir a los siguientes sustantivos que son incontables en ingles:
Money- dinero
Fruit - fruta
Bread- pan
Time- tiempo
Chocolate- chocolate
Meat - carne
Beef- carne (vacuna)

Fuente: http://my.opera.com/StManor/blog/how-much-how-many-contables-e-incon

a-an-some-any

A y an significan un, una indistintamente, y se emplean con nombres contables en singular. A se pone cuando la palabra siguiente empieza por consonante; an, por vocal.

A cat (Un gato)

An ocean (Un océano)

An orange bike (Una bici naranja)

Obsérvense los siguientes ejemplos:

An hour (Una hora --> Nótese que la h es muda, por lo que hour empieza por un sonido vocálico.)

A hot dog (Un perrito caliente --> La h se pronuncia aquí.)

A university student (Un estudiante universitario --> La u de "university" no tiene un sonido vocálico, sino que más bien, consonántico. Equivaldría a decir yu en castellano.)

An unusual situation (Una situación poco corriente o inusual -->La u es una vocal aquí.)

El plural de a o an es some:

Some cats (Unos gatos)

Some oceans (Unos océanos)

Some se usa también para sustantivos incontables: some milk (leche, un poco de leche).

En negativa y en interrogativa se emplea any en vez de some:

There wasn't any milk. (No había leche o nada de leche.)

Has she sent you any photos? (¿Te ha enviado fotos, alguna foto?)

Sin embargo, en los casos siguientes empleamos some en las interrogativas: en peticiones, en ofrecimientos o cuando esperamos una respuesta afirmativa.

Would you like some coffee? (¿Quieres café, un poco de café?)

Is there some ham in the fridge, mum? I'm very hungry. (¿Hay jamón de York en la nevera, mamá? Tengo mucha hambre. -->El hablante le está pidiendo a su madre de una forma indirecta jamón, y espera que ella le diga que sí.)

El artículo definido the (el, la, los, las) se utiliza para referirnos a cosas ya introducidas en el discurso o para referirnos a algo único:

A man and a woman were walking along the path. The man was wearing a red jumper and the woman, a pink jacket. (Un hombre y una mujer paseaban por el sendero, camino. El hombre llevaba un jersey rojo y la mujer, una chaqueta rosa.)

I would like to go to the moon. (Me gustaría ir a la luna.)

Some, any y the no se mencionan cuando los sustantivos expresan una idea general:

I love bananas. (Me encantan los plátanos.)

Milk is very good for children. (La leche es muy buena para los niños.)

Fuente: http://www.polseguera.com/freegrammar/articulo.htm

El uso de used to

Se usa used to + verbo para hablar de habitos ya pasados y para hablar de estados pasados.

Ejemplos:

Hábito: I used to play the guitar. Significa que antes tocabas la guitarra pero ya no.

Estado: I used to live in London. Significa que antes vivias en Londres pero ya no.

Se forma: se usa la misma forma con todas las personas

Afirmativos:

I
you
he/she/it + used to + verbo
we
they

ejemplo: I used to play football, he used to play football, we used to play football etc...

Negativos:

I
you
he/she/it + didn't use to + verbo
we
they

ejemplo: I didn't use to play football, he didn't use to play football, we didn't use to play football etc...

Preguntas:

Did + use to + verbo
ejemplo: Did you use to smoke? (¿Solias fumar?)
What did you use to do....? (Que solias hacer...?)

Ejemplo: Did you use to play football? Did he use to play football?......

Respuestas cortas:

Did you use to play football? (¿Solias jugar al futbol?)
Yes I did
No I didn't

Fuente: http://curso-gratis-ingles.euroresidentes.com/2006/03/el-uso-de-used-to-en-ingls.html

Verbo modal Could (ability)

Could

"Could" indica posibilidad o habilidad en el pasado.
Ejemplos:

Joe could speak Spanish when he was young.
Joe podía hablar español cuando era joven.)

I couldn't sleep last night. (No pude dormir anoche.)

It could have been worse. (Podría haber sido peor.)

Could you play an instrument when you were a child? (¿Podrías tocar un instrumento cuando eras un niño?)

También se puede usar "could" para posibilidades en el futuro.
Ejemplos:

You could pass the test if you studied.
(Podrías pasar el examen si estudiaras.)

I think it could rain later. (Creo que podría llover más tarde.)

Como "can", en frases interrogativas "could" puede solicitar permiso o preguntar sobre las posibilidades, pero es más formal.
Ejemplos:

Could you pass the salt please? (¿Podría pasarme la sal por favor?)

Could you help me? (¿Podrías ayudarme?)

Could I be wrong? (¿Podría estar equivocado?)

Fuente: http://www.curso-ingles.com/gramatica-inglesa/modales.php