Why can "they do not have much to read" not be translated as " ils n'ont pas beaucoup à lire"? Why must it be "grand-chose" instead?
Answered! Jump to accepted answer.

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
11/07/18
Hi David,
Yes you can say " Je n'ai pas beaucoup à lire" but you are more likely to hear "Je n'ai pas grand-chose à lire".
Hope this helps!

David
Kwiziq community member
11/07/18
John
Kwiziq community member
31/07/18
I think the meaning is a little difference. Please let me know if I'm wrong.
"Je n'ai pas beaucoup à lire" to me means I don't have a lot of homework this week. My boss didn't ask me to go over a lot of cases. So I don't have much to read this week.
"Je n'ai pas grand-chose à lire" makes me think you walk into the doctor's office, and there are only junk magazines to read. You don't have much to read around here.

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
4/08/18
Hi John,
I think you would say " Il n'y a pas grand-chose à lire" in the case of the doctor's surgery as it is a general comment.
The difference between 'pas beaucoup' and 'pas grand-chose' is the same as 'not much' and 'hardly anything', in my opinion.
Your answer
Don't have an account yet? Join today

Think you've got all the answers?
Test your French to the CEFR standard
find your French level »
David
Kwiziq community member
27 June 2018
4 replies
Why can "they do not have much to read" not be translated as " ils n'ont pas beaucoup à lire"? Why must it be "grand-chose" instead?
Google Translate allows it.
This page offers it in several examples:: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-french/much
It seems they are equally valid alternatives.
This question relates to:
French lesson "Ne ... pas grand-chose = Not much (negation)"