How do you say a lot of in French?

Beaucoup de, with the noun left bare: beaucoup de temps, beaucoup d'amis. French makes no distinction between much and many, so the same phrase covers both, and only the noun changes number.

Why is it beaucoup de and not beaucoup du?

Because the de after a quantity word is a link, not a partitive article. Adding the article on top would be saying the amount twice. The only time you see beaucoup des is when you mean many of a specific group: beaucoup des invités.

What's the difference between très and beaucoup?

Très intensifies adjectives and adverbs: très content, très vite. Beaucoup intensifies verbs and, with de, quantifies nouns: il travaille beaucoup, beaucoup de travail. J'aime très is impossible; j'aime beaucoup is what you want.

What's the difference between peu de and un peu de?

Peu de is a complaint about scarcity: il a peu d'argent means he hasn't got much money. Un peu de is a small positive amount: il a un peu d'argent means he has a bit. Un peu only works with things you can't count, so un peu d'amis is not possible.

Which quantity words keep the article?

Bien des and la plupart des, both meaning roughly most or a great many: bien des gens, la plupart du temps. Everything else — beaucoup, trop, assez, peu, tant, autant — takes bare de.

French grammar · Beginner

French Adverbs of Quantity: Beaucoup De, Trop De, Assez De

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Adverbs of quantity — beaucoup, peu, trop, assez, tant, autant — say how much. In front of a noun they all take de and the noun goes bare: beaucoup de temps, trop de bruit, assez d'argent. Très is the odd one out: it modifies adjectives and adverbs and can never be followed by a noun.

Il y a beaucoup de monde et trop de bruit.

There are a lot of people and too much noise.

What it is

French measures amounts with an adverb plus de. The de is not a partitive article and doesn't change for gender or number: beaucoup de pain, beaucoup de pommes, beaucoup d'eau. What English handles with a lot of, too much, and too many, French handles with one adverb and one linking word.

J'ai beaucoup d'amis mais peu de temps et trop de travail. — I have lots of friends but little time and too much work.

How to spot it

If the adverb is followed by a noun, expect de and nothing else. If it's followed by an adjective, you're in très territory instead.

beaucoup de patience — a lot of patience
assez d'argent — enough money
trop de questions — too many questions
très patient — very patient

French makes no distinction between much and many. Beaucoup de covers both, and the noun's number is all that changes.

Adverbs of Quantity Quick Reference

The adverbs of quantity

Adverb	English	Example
beaucoup de	a lot of, much, many	beaucoup de gens — a lot of people
peu de	little, few (not enough)	peu de temps — little time
un peu de	a little (some)	un peu de sucre — a little sugar
trop de	too much, too many	trop de bruit — too much noise
assez de	enough	assez de place — enough room
tant de / tellement de	so much, so many	tant de choses — so many things
autant de	as much, as many	autant de travail — as much work
très	very (+ adjective only)	très fatigué — very tired

Common Adverbs of Quantity Examples in French

Quantity adverbs in the structures they appear in:

Before a Noun

Il a beaucoup de travail cette semaine.: He has a lot of work this week.
Nous avons assez de temps.: We have enough time.
Il y a trop de voitures en ville.: There are too many cars in town.
Elle a peu d'expérience.: She has little experience.

The noun after de takes no article at all, whatever it would have taken in a positive sentence.

After a Verb

Elle travaille beaucoup.: She works a lot.
Il mange trop.: He eats too much.
Tu parles peu.: You don't talk much.
Nous avons assez attendu.: We've waited long enough.

In compound tenses these short adverbs go between the auxiliary and the participle: j'ai beaucoup dormi.

Intensifying an Adjective

Il est très gentil.: He's very kind.
C'est tellement compliqué.: It's so complicated.
Elle est si patiente.: She's so patient.
C'est trop cher pour moi.: It's too expensive for me.

Très, si, and tellement all sit directly in front of the adjective, with no de anywhere.

Comparing Amounts

Il a autant de livres que moi.: He has as many books as me.
Il y a moins de neige que l'an dernier.: There's less snow than last year.
Elle gagne plus d'argent que lui.: She earns more money than he does.
Il travaille autant que nous.: He works as much as we do.

The comparison is closed with que, and the pronoun after it takes its stressed form: que moi, que lui, que nous.

How Quantity Adverbs Attach to Nouns

One structural rule does most of the work, and the exceptions to it are few enough to list.

Adverb + De + Bare Noun

The article disappears entirely. Beaucoup de pain, not beaucoup du pain; trop de gens, not trop des gens. The de here is a link between the quantity and the thing counted, and it never carries an article of its own.

Il reste peu de places.

There aren't many seats left.

beaucoup / trop / assez / peu + de + bare noun.

De Elides but Never Contracts

In front of a vowel or mute h, de becomes d': beaucoup d'amis, trop d'histoires. What it doesn't do is merge with le or les, because there is no le or les there to merge with.

Nous avons trop d'idées et pas assez de temps.

We have too many ideas and not enough time.

d'amis, d'eau, d'histoires.

Très Modifies Adjectives, Beaucoup Modifies Verbs

Très cannot go with a verb and beaucoup cannot go with an adjective. J'aime beaucoup and c'est très bien are both correct; j'aime très and c'est beaucoup bien are not possible sentences.

J'aime beaucoup ce film, il est très drôle.

I really like this film, it's very funny.

très + adjective, beaucoup + verb.

Peu and Un Peu Are Not the Same

Peu de is negative: it says there isn't much. Un peu de is positive: it says there's a small amount, and it only works with things you can't count. Peu de temps means hardly any time; un peu de temps means a little time.

Il a peu d'amis mais un peu de temps libre.

He has few friends but a little free time.

peu = not much, un peu = a little.

Short Adverbs Split Compound Tenses

Beaucoup, trop, assez, and peu go between the auxiliary and the past participle, the same slot pas occupies. Longer quantity phrases stay after the participle.

Elle a beaucoup voyagé quand elle était jeune.

She travelled a lot when she was young.

a beaucoup voyagé, a trop mangé.

Common Mistakes with Adverbs of Quantity

Incorrect: Il y a beaucoup des touristes ici. — There are a lot of tourists here.

Correct: Il y a beaucoup de touristes ici. — There are a lot of tourists here.

Quantity adverbs take bare de. Beaucoup des would mean many of the tourists, picking from a group you've already identified.

Incorrect: J'aime très ce film. — I like this film very much.

Correct: J'aime beaucoup ce film. — I like this film very much.

Très can only intensify an adjective or an adverb. To intensify a verb, French uses beaucoup, placed after the verb.

Incorrect: Il est beaucoup fatigué. — He's very tired.

Correct: Il est très fatigué. — He's very tired.

Fatigué is an adjective here, so it needs très. Beaucoup would only work if there were a verb to modify: il a beaucoup travaillé.

Incorrect: Elle a mangé trop. — She's eaten too much.

Correct: Elle a trop mangé. — She's eaten too much.

Short quantity adverbs go between the auxiliary and the past participle. Leaving trop at the end makes the sentence sound unfinished.

The Quantity Words That Keep Their Article

A small group breaks the bare-de rule, and they're common enough that the exceptions matter.

Bien des

Bien des means many and keeps the full article. It's a slightly more expressive alternative to beaucoup de.

Bien des gens pensent la même chose.: A great many people think the same thing.
Il a fait bien des erreurs.: He's made plenty of mistakes.
Il lui a fallu bien du courage.: It took him a great deal of courage.

Bien de behaves like the partitive: bien du, bien de la, bien des, matching the noun.

La plupart des

La plupart means most, and it always takes des, de la, or du rather than bare de.

La plupart des étudiants sont d'accord.: Most of the students agree.
La plupart du temps, il travaille chez lui.: Most of the time he works from home.
La plupart d'entre nous le savaient.: Most of us knew.

The verb after la plupart des agrees with the plural noun, not with la plupart: la plupart des gens sont, not est.

Encore and quantities of a specific group

Encore adds a quantity without reducing the article, and any quantity word keeps the article when you mean some of a known set.

Tu veux encore du gâteau ?: Do you want more cake ?
Beaucoup des invités sont déjà partis.: Many of the guests have already left.
Combien des étudiants sont venus ?: How many of the students came ?

Beaucoup de gens means people in general; beaucoup des gens means many of the people we're talking about.

Adverbs of Quantity FAQs

How do you say a lot of in French?: Beaucoup de, with the noun left bare: beaucoup de temps, beaucoup d'amis. French makes no distinction between much and many, so the same phrase covers both, and only the noun changes number.
Why is it beaucoup de and not beaucoup du?: Because the de after a quantity word is a link, not a partitive article. Adding the article on top would be saying the amount twice. The only time you see beaucoup des is when you mean many of a specific group: beaucoup des invités.
What's the difference between très and beaucoup?: Très intensifies adjectives and adverbs: très content, très vite. Beaucoup intensifies verbs and, with de, quantifies nouns: il travaille beaucoup, beaucoup de travail. J'aime très is impossible; j'aime beaucoup is what you want.
What's the difference between peu de and un peu de?: Peu de is a complaint about scarcity: il a peu d'argent means he hasn't got much money. Un peu de is a small positive amount: il a un peu d'argent means he has a bit. Un peu only works with things you can't count, so un peu d'amis is not possible.
Which quantity words keep the article?: Bien des and la plupart des, both meaning roughly most or a great many: bien des gens, la plupart du temps. Everything else — beaucoup, trop, assez, peu, tant, autant — takes bare de.