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I came across the following construction in an exercise book written by a non-native speaker of English, who asked the students to replace the word 'much' with a more suitable one:
I know that the furniture of my flat is 'much'.
The first answer came to my thought was 'a lot'. But l feel that the whole construction is not very common in English. Right? I'm sorry if my question seems so silly.
You are right - there are various problems with the construction of that sentence. A fluent English speaker would find it confusing and/or awkward.
(In context, I can guess that the intended meaning is, "I know that there is a lot of furniture in my flat". But without the context you gave, I would struggle to understand the original sentence.)
"I know that the furniture of my flat is much", and "I know that the furniture of my flat is a lot", are semantically unclear. This is partly because of word order, and partly because of the various possible idiomatic uses of 'much', and 'a lot'.
In English, a word or phrase that describes the quantity or amount of a thing, is placed before the noun. This is called a quantifier. For example: 'two bits of furniture', 'a lot of furniture', 'many chairs'. http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-quantifiers.php
An adjective (or adjectival phrase) describes the quality of a thing, and goes after '[noun phrase] is'. For example: 'the furniture of my flat is beautiful', 'the furniture is plentiful', 'the furniture is grandiose'.
So, a native English speaker would understand 'much' at the end of the sentence to be describing the quality (rather than than the quantity) of the furniture. She might wonder whether part of a common colloquial phrase had been left out by mistake. Should it actually say that the furniture is: 'too much'; 'a bit much'; or 'much of a muchness'?
"the furniture of my flat is a lot" could also be misunderstood without context. Is it identifying all of the furniture as a single 'lot' for sale in an auction, for example?
[Also, "my flat's furniture", and "the furniture in my flat", are more natural English expressions that "the furniture of my flat"]
The only word I can think of is plentiful.
"I know that the furniture of my flat is plentiful."
To keep the same pattern as your example you could write:
or
If the writer does not qualify either statement in the sentences that follow them, the reader will be left to decide whether the terms too much or excessive refer to the quantity of furniture in the flat (relating to more than necessary, normal or desirable in the definition below), or to the perception that the furniture is, for example, ostentatious, too ornate or too colourful (more aligned with the immoderate sense of the definition).
excessive [ODO]
ADJECTIVE
More than is necessary, normal, or desirable; immoderate.
‘he was drinking excessive amounts of brandy’
