Hello!
Could you tell me the difference between “many boys” and “many a boy”, “many cats” and “many a cat”, etc?
Best regards
They are synonymous, I would think.
I’m sorry, I am afraid they are not.
Hi,
I wonder how it can be many a cat or many a boy? We use the articles a or an with singular nouns. And many refers to plural. Many means more than a few, more than several.
When I read about this possibility in my grammar book on the first time I was also shocked… I’m sorry that book did tell me the difference…
Hi, Madian
Could you tell me where you’ve found these phrases? I mean many a boy and many a cat.
These phrases are just an example… I am interested in the difference between “many + a plural noun” and “many a + a noun in the singular”. These forms are mentioned in the Grammar of English for University Students. More detailed information about the book will be given tomorrow if I find it tonight…
Hi,
Many a is used to introduce a sentence and function as adjective.
many a - each of a large indefinite number; “many a man”
Many a man wishes that he had gone to college.
Many a little boy has wanted to become a fireman.
This adjective is always used with a singular noun.
Thanks, this is new for me.
Hi,
The meaning of ‘many + a + singular noun’ and ‘many + plural noun’ is fundamentally the same. It follows that ‘many a day’ means the same as ‘many days’. The difference is really stylistic. There is also a more common use of ‘many a’ in written English or in what you could call oratorical/dramatic language. It’s used in fact for emphasis. A political leader could say: We’ve experienced high taxes for many a decade now and that’s why you should vote for **** party. Somebody could say with regret: I’ve spent many a year daydreaming when I should have made more effort.
Alan
Alan,
Thank you for the intelligible explanation.