Study materials
Ukrainian uses one word for the quantity of participants and the quantity of data. English needs different words for these two.
a large number of participants
Participants can be counted.
a large amount of data
Data as an uncountable whole.
This article explains which quantity words go with countable nouns and which with uncountable ones, a number of and the number of, and academic nouns with no plural such as research, evidence and information.
Quantity words
Conversational a lot of, lots of, loads of, a bunch of are replaced in academic text by an exact number or a neutral word.
| With countable nouns | With uncountable nouns |
|---|---|
| many participants | much attention |
| a large number of cases | a large amount of data |
| fewer errors | less time |
A number of means several or many, and the verb after it is plural: A number of studies have shown. The number of means the count, and the verb is singular: The number of cases was small.
Nouns with no plural
Some academic nouns are uncountable, that is they have no plural and do not take a. Their Ukrainian equivalents have plurals, so mistakes are easy here.
| Uncountable | How to talk about several |
|---|---|
| research | studies, research projects |
| evidence | pieces of evidence |
| information | pieces of information, details |
| equipment | pieces of equipment, devices |
Much research has focused on this.
Uncountable, so much and has.
Several studies have focused on this.
Countable, so several and have.
Common mistakes
The first mistake is amount with a countable noun.
a large amount of participants → a large number of participants
Participants can be counted, so number.
The second mistake is a plural after the number of.
The number of cases were small. → The number of cases was small.
The subject is number, so singular.
The third mistake is a plural of research.
Many researches show this. → Many studies show this. Or Much research shows this.
Research is uncountable.
The first mistake shows when you ask whether the thing can be counted. If it can, you need number and many. The second shows in the article. The number of takes the singular, a number of the plural. The third shows in an -s on research, evidence or information. Those forms do not exist.