Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Teo]

1. People who have eaten much need to move around for a while before going to sleep.
2. The people who have eaten much need to move around for a while before going to sleep.
What's the difference in meaning between these two sentences?
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Thank you very much for your reply.

[lotus]

Hi Teo,

You don't need the definite article "the" in front of "people" because they are speaking about people in general.

Sentence number 1 is more natural.


--lotus

[KazAV]

I would add "too" to make it sound more natural.

People who have eaten too much...

Or you could say people who have eaten a lot rather than much.

[advoca]

Surely, there is a difference between eaten much and eaten too much. It is possible to eat much without eating too much.

I think the advice is sound for both situations.

[jellobean]

To sound more natural, I would just say:

People who have eaten a lot.....

[KazAV]

Exactly. That's what I said. We don't really say people who have eaten much. It doesn't sound natural. If you want to use much, you have to use too.