You use many if you can't count the noun you are talking about. Ask yourself can i count this? Can I count sand? rice? coffee? water? The answer is no, the grains or molecules are too small so you cant coun't them, therefor you use much and NOT many. I drank too much coffee (you can't count the molecules of coffee) I drank too many cups of coffee (you can count the cups) I hope that helps.

I ate a lot of cake I ate too much cake I ate many cakes (cake can be countable it it's a plural or uncountable in the singular) I drank a lot of coffee I drank too much coffee I drank too many cups of coffee I cooked a lot of rice I cooked too much rice (you cant say I cooked too many rice) There is a lot of water on the field (a statement of fact, there is no negative connotation) There is too much water on the field (it is a bad thing, maybe the field is flooded) (you cant say there is too many water)

"I drank a lot of coffee" means the same as "I drank many cups of coffee", there is no negative connotation. It is OK that I drank a lot of coffee. "I drank too much coffee" has a negative meaning, It means that I am not ok, i feel strange after drinking the coffee. I ate a lot of cake but thats ok I feel great! I ate too much cake and now I feel sick. I play a lot of computer games but its ok, i still find time to do other things. I play too many computer games, its not ok because I never have time to do anything else.

3 and 5 are incorrect because sugar and coffee are singular nouns (note, there is no "s" on either marking them as plural). And that is as it should be, because both are mass nouns. "much" is the singular counterpart to "many", but it sounds a bit stilted by itself in these cases, and "a lot of" is more colloquial. "too much coffee/sugar" is OK though, but does not mean the same -- it means you drank an excessive amount of coffee.

Hi RafiK! I hope this link helps you http://www.grammarnet.com/ghtml/quanti/many.htm Best regards