OK, epilot,
if you concur, then we shall continue. (Just kidding! I'm still very busy, and a lot less productive than I would like to be.)
You are doing so very well, as you can see by the compliments you're getting. You are also dealing with more complex constructions, and questioning how to resolve them. For example:
Yes, 500000 words is (or are?) too much
Again, this is the verb 'to be,' which is, perhaps, the most difficult one. Is, or are refers to the noun 'words,' which is plural, so the correct choice is ______. (10 marks)
Now, the word that is throwing you off here is 'much,' which is used for nouns which are 'uncountable.' (examples: bread, water, ice cream, soldering flux...) The choice for items which you can count (words, candies, resistors, transistors...) is many.
Now, for the example you asked about, the simple way to say it is: Yes, 500000 words are too many. However, you could also say:
Yes, 500000 words, that is too much. (THAT, in this case refers to THE quantity, which is implied by '500000 words.' Here there is one quantity.)
This is something which is ingrained in people who grow up using English; they learn by repeated listening and using. It tends to be difficult for people who are learning English as another language. (L2s, if you want the jargon.)
The word which gives most L1s (People who learned English as a first language.) a difficult time, is too. All too often, I see - even educated - writers using to, which is not correct. I have even encountered people teaching English, who use the wrong form of they're/there/their, or its/it's and, common on this board, then/than.
First language speakers take so much for granted. When I was in undergraduate, I took courses in English, out of interest. In one course, we were given an assignment on grammar. I spent the whole weekend in the library, trying to find the correct answers. I could not, and on Monday, felt like such a failure, I had to drag my self into the class. I was immediately put at ease because NO ONE in that class could correctly answer the questions. Our professor, an Oxford Man, laughed when we asked him where we could find the information; he told us that it could be found in our elementary school texts. (grades 1 - 6) He gave us the assignment as a bit of a practical joke.
I also know, that in language, there is a rather large disparity in class room learning vs. real world learning. As an example, last night my girlfriend said "I don't know why nobody understands me when I go to the service station, and say 'fill it up.' (Now, some inside: Koreans have a vowel which looks like i, but the sound is like a long e, and they tend to pronounce i this way.) I told her she should use 'fill 'er up,' instead, explaining that we usually refer to our cars as 'her.' I repeated what she said, which sounded like 'feel eet up.' and jokingly reached toward her chest. She got the joke, and we had a good laugh.
As for the employment in Canada, well my girlfriend got the scores she needed on her English test, so now can apply to the Nurses Union, to test to become a nurse here. I think she will have so much better chance at employment than I would. Why? Because she is Korean, and from all I've seen, the Korean community will help her, much the same way the Chinese community helps Chinese new comers, the Vietnamese community helps the Vietnamese new comers, the Polish community helps the Polish new comers.... but the white people here, only help their friends and families. I'll probably have to go back to Asia to have gainful employment, since I don't know anybody here anymore.
Besides, I like children, and the children in Asia are a hundred times more friendly than in North America (or Europe.) We have this view that danger comes from outside the family, so we make our children unfriendly. Koreans, Taiwanese, and Thais all make their children friendly. This carries through to adulthood. It was easy to meet and talk with people in Korea, much easier than here!
Yes, English is funny. I think one of the reasons it is used in so many places, is its flexibility, and willingness to adapt.
OK, I have babbled enough, time to get down to some work.
Regards
P.S. Shaw keeps bragging about how fast its cable service is, but I find it so incredibly slow! I've not seen it go above 54 Mbits/sec, where I was used to over 100. grrrr