Are you a number-cruncher? No, I don’t mean an accountant or a computer. I mean a person who abuses the word number by not observing the proper distinction between the words number and amount.
Would you say “the amount of people at the party” or “the number of people at the party”? Would you say “the amount of things I have to do today” or “the number of things I have to do today”? If you chose number, then you’ve called the right number this time. If you chose amount, you won’t amount to much unless you follow my advice.
Number refers to things that can be counted, itemized, or enumerated; in other words, considered separately or individually. We speak of the number of people at an event, a number of things to do, a number of problems to solve, the number of grocery items in a bag, the number of papers on your desk, or the number of volts in an electric current.
Amount refers to things that are considered collectively, in other words, as a mass or whole. We speak of the amount of sugar in a recipe, the amount of trouble we are having, the amount of food we buy at the store, the amount of paper on your desk.
The word number gives educated speakers and writers trouble in one other way; namely, when you hook it to a plural noun, should you use a singular or a plural verb? Here’s a quiz to test your number literacy:
- Would you say a number of boxes was sent or a number of boxes were sent?
- Would you say the number of boxes are small or the number of boxes is small?
- Would you say a low number of crimes was committed or a low number of crimes were committed?
- Would you say the number of tasks on my to-do list are small or the number of tasks on my to-do list is small?
If you chose the second sentence in each case, your number literacy is excellent. Here’s the rule for using number with singular and plural verbs: When number is preceded by the indefinite article a, as a number, the construction is plural and requires a plural verb: a number of things were done; a number of people are here; a number of new employees have joined the health club (not has joined).
Now, when number is preceded by the definite article the, as the number, the construction is singular and requires a singular verb: the number of things left to do is overwhelming; the number of people in attendance is fifty; the number of members in the organization has decreased (not have decreased).
Remember, a number is always plural; the number is always singular.
