Which one makes the most sense and grammatically correct?

G   Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:10 pm GMT
Dear Native speakers of English,
Which one is grammatically correct and makes the most sense to you of the following sentences?

#1.
a) There's not much difference between Danish and Swedish.
b) There're not many differences between Danish and Swedish.
c) There're not much differences between Danish and Swedish.
d) There's not much differences between Danish and Swedish.

#2.
a) There's not much thing to do in Manitoba.
b) There're not many things to do in Manitoba.
c) There're not much things to do in Manitoba.
d) There's not much things to do in Manitoba.
Travis   Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:31 pm GMT
1. I would say that "b" is the best choice in formal language, but in everyday speech "a" is also perfectly acceptable. One choice that you missed which will also commonly show up in everyday speech is "There's not many differences between Danish and Swedish."

2. Of all those given choices, I would strongly favor "b". Like with the first question, in informal speech one can also say "There's not many things to do in Manitoba" as well. However, another common choice that was also not listed which would commonly be used is simply "There's not much to do in Manitoba."
discojoe   Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:54 pm GMT
In both, B is correct.
furrykef   Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:18 pm GMT
#1. I hate the word "there're" in writing; I would always write "there are". In fact, I'd be much more inclined to use "there's" than "there're", even though it's grammatically incorrect. But both A and B are perfectly grammatical; C and D are not, nor are they something a native is likely to say. I have to agree with Travis that formal language would prefer B to A (in which case you wouldn't be using a contraction either), but the difference really isn't that big.

#2. B is the only grammatical sentence here. A native speaker could conceivably say C or D, but I don't think they're very typical.

- Kef