In 1 and 2, the question is asking for a number: how many replaces a number, so the verb is are (plural). (Yes, even if the answer turns out to be 1, the question is still plural!) 3 and 4 are not about the number, but about the question "how many" - you could replace "how many" by "the question of how many", which is singular. So they need is.

Context Explanation

Should I use "is" or "are" in the following "how many..." sentences? You would ask "how many beans" only when you truly expect the answer to be a number of beans rather than a measurement. For instance, someone might put some beans in a jar and hold a contest to guess "how many" beans are in the jar. Meanwhile, you could ask "how many" about countable units of measurement.

Insight Material

"Cook some beans." "How many grams?" uncountable nouns - How many beans vs How much beans? - English ... Many a girl or the second option is correct. Many a always uses a singular noun and is more formal than the word many. It is not much common and is used usually in newspapers and famous writings.

Final Conclusion

Many a is used to indicate a large number of something. grammar - What is the correct use of 'Many a'? - English Language ... 6 According to CAED, "many" followed by a singular noun or pronoun is equivalent to "many" followed by the corresponding plural. many a man tried = many men tried So, many a____ is an adverb phrase used as an idiom. That said, the examples cited above carry a difference of degrees.

Take this example: The difference between " These many pictures" and " This many pictures" could be referring more to what the speaker wants the qualifying word to apply to - either the many or the pictures. So "I always take these many pictures " begins to sound like you always take those exact pictures (like the same pictures over and over) which happen to be "many". Whereas "I always take this many pictures ...