Grammar / A lot, very, too (much)

A1 Breakthrough

“There are a lot of cars”, “she’s very pretty”, “it’s too hot”... what are the differences between “a lot”, “very” and “too much”?

Beaucoup

Beaucoup de (d’) + noun

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Il y a beaucoup de voitures. (beaucoup = a large number / a large quantity of cars)

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Il y a beaucoup d’armoires dans la cuisine. (beaucoup de → beaucoup d’ because armoire begins with a vowel (a, e, i ,o, u, y + h silent)

Sometimes, beaucoup is related to the verb.

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J’aime beaucoup les voitures. (really like/love)

Do not say:
Ce canapé est beaucoup grand but "Ce canapé est très grand.”

Très

Très adjective/adverb:

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Cette chambre est très jolie.

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Je vais très bien.

Très + avoir faim and avoir soif:

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J’ai très faim.

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Vous avez très soif.

Trop / très

Trop often has a negative value, it is used to express an excessive amount of something.

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Il fait très froid (but it’s ok).

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Il fait trop froid (I don’t like this).

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Ce thé est très chaud (but I still can drink it).

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Ce thé est trop chaud (I can’t drink it).

In France, in the familiar language, trop sometimes replaces très. Trop taking on a positive meaning, for example:
Cette maison est trop belle (this house is really beautiful)!
Cet appartement est trop silencieux (I’m in a very quiet accommodation, and it’s fine by me)!

In a formal context, we avoid using trop with a positive connotation.