MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH

Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end


  Drag&Drop
VERY / TOO, very much, too much, too many
Focus Grammar
Description Practise the difference between VERY / TOO and VERY MUCH / TOO MUCH. Usage and special cases.
Instructions Click on the words at the bottom and drag them into the empty boxes of the sentence to complete it. Always choose THE MOST COMMON OPTION.
 
Gapped text Items
Everybody enjoyed ______________________ the party ______________________ -- / very much / very / too many / too / too much
Try to speak ______________________ slowly, please too many / too / very / very much / too much
We have ______________________ people here, I only need 5 or 6. very / too much / too many / too / very much
Mike is ______________________ tall too / too much / very / too many / very much
We have walked ______________________, let's have a rest, please!! too many / too / too much / very / very much
I like ______________________ children ______________________ too / very / too much / too many / very much / --
You're dancing ______________________ slowly, you need to go faster, this song is rock, not a waltz. very / too much / too many / very much / too
Things happened ______________________ quickly, I got confused. very much / very / too much / too many / too
That song is ______________________ beautiful too many / very much / too / too much / very
That's ______________________ complicated, I don't understand. very much / too much / too / very / too many
I ______________________ prefer ______________________ this book to that one too much / very / too many / very much / -- / too
This composition is horrible. It's ______________________ more complicated than the first version. too many / too much / too / very much / very
He got depressed because he had ______________________ time to think too / too many / very / very much / too much
Your exam was ______________________ easier than mine very much / too / too much / too many / very
This is wrong, it is ______________________ heavier than what I need. very much / very / too much / too many / too
This mayonnaise has ______________________ oil, it tastes bad. too much / too many / very / very much / too
He ______________________ ate ______________________ pasta -- / very much / too / too many / too much / very
You served ______________________ soup, I can't eat all this. very much / too many / too / very / too much
I miss ______________________ you ______________________ too / -- / very much / too many / very / too much
She ______________________ likes ______________________ cookies -- / too much / too / very / very much / very much / too many
Total number of items: 20
This is an activity from Multimedia-English www.multimedia-english.com
 

VERY/TOO + adjective/adverb
 
- That tree is very big
- She sings very beautifully
- That mountain is too high for me
- You speak too fast

But we use VERY/TOO MUCH before comparatives

- He is very much taller than his brother  (positive idea)
- This is too much more expensive, I can't buy it  (negative idea)
 
Rest: VERY MUCH / TOO MUCH

(+ noun) I don't have very much money  [but "very much" with nouns is not common, see note 2 below]
            He drank too much gin tonic at the party
(+ verb) I think you work very much / too much

Remember that we don't normally separate a transitive verb from its direct object, and this is especially true for VERY MUCH:

- I like your house very much
- I very much like your house
not: I like very much your house  (like + your house)

 

For more advanced learners

Note 1: VERY MUCH usually expresses a positive idea, TOO MUCH always expresses a negative idea (it is an excess), but in colloquial English (especially American English) you can use TOO MUCH with a positive sense meaning "very very much".

- Oh man, I like this song too much, it's so cool!!

Note 2: VERY MUCH is not very common with nouns, and we only use it with negative sentences. TOO MUCH with nouns is always ok

- I drank very much wine (uhm... ok but not recommended)
- I didn't drink very much wine (not common)
- I drank too much wine (OK)

Also, remember the use of MUCH and MANY. We use MUCH with singular nouns and MANY with plural nouns. The same is true for VERY/TOO MUCH/MANY
- There were too many people and they ate too much food
- That's too much for me
- There are too many cars in the street