#amount of

Lots of people we know don’t care about the difference between “amount of” and “number of”—and they use the two interchangeably.

And while we concede that it doesn’t really matter in colloquial (i.e., spoken English), we would be remiss if we didn’t make it known that there are lots of other people who insist on the difference. Relevant to our interests, both the SAT and ACT (the two college-entrance exams in the United States) test this.

So, regardless of where you stand on this topic, here’s a brief explanation:

Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

Is it just me, or is the amount of air in this room decreasing?

The amount of work it takes to succeed can be daunting.

I can’t describe the amount of anger Luffy is feeling right now. 😡💢

The number of chairs in this tiny room is excessively high.

The number of white cars we sold this month was higher than we anticipated.

Increase the number of chips and snacks for the party; we can never have too much. 🍿🍫

TL;DR:

Human Time

Come on grab your friends

We’re going to a very

🙆🏻‍♀️ Don’t worry: this one’s straightforward:

Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

Is it just me, or is the amount of air in this room decreasing?

The amount of work it takes to succeed can be daunting.

I can’t describe the amount of anger I’m feeling right now. 😡💢

The number of chairs in this tiny room is excessively high. 

The number of white cars we sold this month was higher than we anticipated.

Increase the number of chips and snacks for the party; we can never have too much. 🍿🍫

💁 Oh, by the way …

For A number of (something) vs. THE number of (something), read this really simple explanation.

TL;DR

Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

Is it just me, or is the amount of air in this room decreasing?

The amount of work it takes to succeed can be daunting.

I can’t describe the amount of anger I’m feeling right now. 😡

The number of chairs in this tiny room is excessively high. 

The number of red cars we sold this month was higher than we anticipated. 🚘🚗

Increase the number of chips and snacks for the party; we can never have too much. 

💁🏻‍♂️ Oh, by the way …

For A number of (something) vs. THE number of (something), read this really simple explanation. 👈🏻👩🏻‍💻

🙋🏻 Don’t worry: this one’s straightforward:

Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

Is it just me, or is the amount of air in this room decreasing?

The amount of work it takes to succeed can be daunting.

I can’t describe the amount of anger I’m feeling right now.

The number of chairs in this tiny room is excessively high.

The number of white cars we sold this month was higher than we anticipated.

Increase the number of chips and snacks for the party; we can never have too much.

💁🏻 Oh, by the way …

For A number of (something) vs. THE number of (something), read this really simple explanation.