Is Many An Adjective: 7 Interesting Facts

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We will address the question ‘is many an adjective?’ in this article with the help of several examples, explanations and important facts about the word ‘many’.

The part of speech that helps us to know more about the noun or noun phrase by performing the function of describing or modifying the naming words (nouns) in a sentence is nothing but adjective. Is the word ‘many’ an adjective that performs the function of qualifying the noun is what we will see here.

Do go through the following sentences where the word ‘many’ is used.

  • 1. My mother bought many toys for me when I was a child.
  • 2. Many children are suffering from cold due to the sudden weather change.
  • 3. You have not answered many questions.
  • 4. We have not spoken with each for many years.
  • 5. Shilpa has many friends as she loves to socialize.

We shall see how the word ‘many’ is utilized in each of the above sentence.

1. My mother bought many toys for me when I was a child.

‘Many’ here is utilized as an indefinite numeral adjective describing the noun ‘toys’ in this sentence by telling us about the indefinite (more than one) number of toys the mother bought for the subject ‘me’ when he/she was a child.

2. Many children are suffering from cold due to the sudden weather change.

‘Many’ here is utilized as an indefinite numeral adjective which is modifying the noun ‘children’ in this sentence by telling us about the indefinite (more than one) number of children who are suffering from the cold due to the weather change.

3. You have not answered many questions.

The indefinite numeral adjective used in the above sentence is ‘many’ as it is giving us additional information about the indefinite number of questions (more than one question) that the subject ‘you’ have not answered by modifying the noun ‘questions’.

4. We have not spoken with each for many years.

The indefinite numeral adjective used in the above sentence is ‘many’ as it is giving us extra information about the indefinite number of years (any number of years more than one) that the subject ‘we’ have not spoken with each other by modifying the noun ‘years’.

5. Shilpa has many friends as she loves to socialize.

‘Many’ here is utilized as an indefinite numeral adjective describing the noun ‘friends’ in this sentence by telling us more about the indefinite (more than one friend) number of friends Shilpa has.

When is many an adjective?

Many is an adjective when it is placed in front of a plural noun in order to tell us about the indefinite number of noun or noun phrase by modifying the plural noun or plural noun phrase in a sentence.

Example: The meeting was attended by many industrialists.

‘Many’ is an adjective in this sentence as it is indicating to us the large indefinite number of industrialists who attended the meeting by modifying the noun ‘industrialists’ before which it is located.

Why is many an adjective?

The general function of an adjective in English language is to modify, qualify or describe the nouns and noun phrases in a sentence by giving us extra information about the quantity, number, quality etc of the noun.  The word ‘many’ is an adjective because it tells us about the number of the noun.

Example: There are many horses in his stable.

In this sentence, the word ‘many’ is an adjective because it takes up the role of modifying the noun ‘horses’. The word ‘many’ thus is an indefinite numeral adjective here as it does not exactly tell us how many horses are there in his stable, but reveals to us the plurality of the noun. 

How is many an adjective?

‘Many’ is an adjective since it is giving us extra additional information about the number of the noun or noun phrase in the sentence.

Example: There are many solutions to this problem of yours.

The word ‘many’ here in this sentence is functioning as an adjective as it is placed just before the noun ‘solutions’ by telling us that there are more than one number of solutions available for that problem of the person.

What type of adjective is the word many?

There are many types of adjectives in the English language. Though all the types modify the nouns and noun phrases, based on how they modify and based on what additional information they provide about the noun, they are classified into the following.

The word ‘many’ comes under the Numeral Adjectives/ Adjectives of Number. Since the word ‘many’ describes the noun by revealing to us the plural number of the noun, it is a numeral adjective. Though it is a numeral adjective, ‘many’ does not exactly tell us the specific number of the noun, thus it can be regarded as an indefinite numeral adjective.

Example: Suchitha has three cats as pets in her house.

‘Three’ is a definite numeral adjective because it is telling us the exact number of pets Suchitha has as three by modifying the noun ‘cats’.

Example: Lalitha has many cats as pets in her house.

‘Many’ is an indefinite numeral adjective as it is indicating the plurality (more than one) of the noun ‘cats’ but does not tell us the exact number of cats Lalitha has.

Is many always an adjective?

No, the word ‘many’ is not always an adjective. It also has other functions that are as follows.

  • ‘Many’ also functions as a pronoun when it is substituting (taking the place of) the noun or the noun phrase in the sentence.

Example: Only very few students have finished their projects. Many did not finish it yet.

In the above sentence, the word ‘many’ is not an adjective as it is not describing or modifying any noun or noun phrase. But the word ‘many’ functions as a pronoun here because it has replaced the noun ‘students’.

  • The word ‘many’ can also become a noun when it is used to name a large group of people as a single whole.

Example: The leaders should use their power in such a way that is beneficial to many.

In this sentence, the word ‘many’ is not an adjective that modifies the noun and also not a pronoun which takes the place of a noun, but it is a noun, a naming word for a large group of people who are named by using a single name and referred to as a whole.

Examples of the word many as an adjective

We shall now see sentences in which the word ‘many’ is used as an adjective.

  • 1. This ball is available in many colors almost in all shops.
  • 2. Sheela has many candies with her now.
  • 3. Raju clicked many pictures of all the animals in the zoo.
  • 4. There are many mails pending in the inbox that have to be read.
  • 5. A cheetah has many spots on its body.
  • 6. This shop has many handbags for sale.
  • 7. Why are you carrying so many books in your bag?

Examples of the word many as an adjective with detailed explanations

Here we will examine and analyze why the word ‘many’ is an adjective in all the above sentences.

1. This ball is available in many colors almost in all shops.

‘Many’ here in this sentence is utilized as an indefinite numeral adjective that is modifying the noun ‘colors’ by telling us more information about the indefinite (more than one color) number of colors in which that ball is available in almost all shops.

2. Sheela has many candies with her now.

The indefinite numeral adjective used in the above sentence is ‘many’ because it is giving us extra information about the indefinite number of candies (any number of candies more than one) that the subject ‘Sheela’ has with her now by describing the naming word (noun) ‘candies’.

3. Raju clicked many pictures of all the animals in the zoo.

In this sentence, the word ‘many’ is an adjective because it performs the function of modifying the noun ‘pictures’. The word ‘many’ thus here is an indefinite numeral adjective as it does not exactly tell us how many pictures were clicked by Raju in the zoo, but reveals to us the plurality of the noun ‘pictures’ by telling us Raju has clicked more than one picture.

4. There are many mails pending in the inbox that have to be read.

The indefinite numeral adjective utilized in the above sentence is ‘many’ because it is giving us extra additional information about the indefinite number of mails (any number of mails more than one) that are pending in the inbox to be read.

5. A cheetah has many spots on its body.

‘Many’ here in this sentence is utilized as an indefinite numeral adjective that is describing the naming word (noun)  ‘spots’ by telling us more information about the indefinite (more than one spot) number of spots a cheetah has on its body.

6. This shop has many handbags for sale.

In this sentence, the word ‘many’ is utilized an adjective because it performs the function of describing the noun ‘handbags’. The word ‘many’ thus here is an indefinite numeral adjective as it does not exactly inform us how many how many handbags in that shop are for sale, but reveals to us the plurality of the noun ‘handbags’ by telling us that there more than one handbag for sale in that shop.

7. Why are you carrying so many books in your bag?

The indefinite numeral adjective used in the above sentence is ‘many’ because it is telling us the extra information about the indefinite number of books (any number of books more than one) that the subject ‘you’ is carrying in his/her bag  by qualifying the naming word (noun) ‘books’.

Can many be a noun?

Yes, the word ‘many’ can be a noun, when it is naming a large group of people or objects as a whole. Do remember, the word ‘many’ can also be used as a noun and as a pronoun. It is a noun when it names a large group of people and it is a pronoun when it replaces or substitutes for the plural nouns or noun phrases in a sentence.

Example 1: Priyanka was trying to build a product that would be available to many.

Example 2: Only few employees come to work on time while many are not punctual.

Here, in the example sentence 1, the word ‘many’ is a noun as it is naming a group of people (as one whole) to whom Priyanka was trying to build the product and make available for. While in example sentence 2, the word ‘many’ is utilized as a pronoun as it is not naming, but instead is replacing or taking the place of the noun ‘employees’.

Conclusion

We can conclude from the above article the answer to the question ‘is many an adjective?’ as ‘yes’. But we should also note that the word ‘many’ can also be an adjective but not only an adjective always as it has other functionalities as well.