You’ve probably heard the expression “many hands make light work,” meaning that when we work together, more gets done. It might sound a little weird to your ears if you’ve heard the other version countless times, but “a lot of hands make light work” also makes grammatical sense. That’s because “many” and “a lot” are often interchangeable. Now take the expression “many moons ago” (meaning “a very long time ago”) — it’s not a treasured aphorism, but this wording is still preferred over “a lot of moons ago.” While the terms are largely synonymous, there’s a reason “many” is preferred in this context — a subtle distinction in tone and usage is at play.
When describing countable nouns (things with a specified quantity), “many” and “a lot” can be used interchangeably; they are both adjectives meaning “a large number of.” For instance, “I have many friends” and “I have a lot of friends” are both grammatically correct phrases because “friends” is a countable noun. The same rule applies to nouns such as “books,” “dogs,” “apples,” and “dreams.” However, the reason “many” is often favored by style guides, dictionaries, and universities is that it’s perceived as the more formal option. That’s why “many” also tends to be preferred for idioms and aphorisms like our examples above. So, in academic or professional settings, choose “many,” and when the tone is more conversational, opt for the unpretentious “a lot.”
There is an exception to this rule of thumb, however. When describing uncountable nouns (those that can’t be counted individually), “a lot” is the only correct choice. This is why we say “a lot of” rain, rice, water, gold, or air, for example. “Many” cannot quantify uncountable things, regardless of tone.
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