What does ‘most’ mean and how to use it? Let’see!
MANY/ MUCH/ A LOT – MORE – THE MOST
When there are a lot of something (hundreds, thousands etc.), you may use MANY/ MUCH/ A LOT OF/ LOTS OF/ PLENTY OF:
- I haven’t got many friends, only two or three.
- I haven’t got much money.
- I’ve got a lot of friends.
- I’ve got lots of books.
- We’ve got plenty of time.
MORE is the comparative form– if I have five pens and you have ten, it means you have more pens than me:
- He’s got more friends than me.
- He’s got more money than me.
- He’s got more books than me.
THE MOST is the superlative form– when nobody else has more:
- She’s got the most friends.
- She’s got the most money.
- She’s got the most books.
MOST also means ‘the majority’ of something. If I have ten colleagues and eight of them are nice people, it’s the majority, so I can say:
- I like working here, most of my colleagues are really nice.
- Most of them are working today. (the majority of them are working today)
Some other examples:
- I work at the reception most of the time. (Maybe, I work there seven or eight hours a day, but I spend a little time, 30 minutes or one hour in the back office too)
- Most of my friends live in my neighbourhood. (the majority)
- Most (of the) people like chocolate. (the majority)
NOTE the article ‘the’ is used in the superlative form (the most money), but it isn’t used when ‘most’ means ‘the majority’ (most of my friends)
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