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What’s the Difference between “a Number of” and “the Number of”?

October 4, 2012

Help students figure out the correct subject–verb agreement for these confusing expressions!

A few weeks ago, someone emailed us at ESL Library to ask if the grammar on our home page was correct. In the featured lesson about protests in the Middle East, this sentence caused some confusion: “Over the past few years, there have been a growing number of both peaceful and violent protests.” The person wanted to know if “…there have been a growing number of…” was correct. Shouldn’t it be “…there has been a growing number of…”?

This is a question that commonly confuses our students! The problem is that the subject–verb agreement is different for the expressions “a number of” and “the number of.” Here’s how I usually explain it to my students:

1. “A number of” takes a plural verb

Tell your students to think of it this way: a number of means many. Becaus “many + plural noun” takes a plural verb, you would say “Many cars are on the freeway during rush hour.” Likewise, you would say “A number of cars are on the freeway during rush hour.”

The important thing to remember is that this expressions is acting like a quantifier. So even though it involves a singular noun “number,” it is serving the same role in the sentence as a quantifier such as “many,” “a lot of,” “lots of,” “hundreds of,” etc. You would say “A number of people have started the test” just like you would say “A lot of people have started the test.”

2. “The number of” takes a singular verb

Here’s where it gets even more confusing. In English, “the number of” doesn’t mean “many.” Tell your students to think of it as one number. So even though that number might be large, the purpose of this expression is to compare this one number/amount with another number/amount. For example, we would say “The number of crimes in New York has increased this year.” There might be 56 more crimes committed this year compared to last year. Another example is “The number of people who are writing the test today is larger than yesterday.” There might be 20 more people writing the test today.

For more practice, see if your students can pick out these expressions on the internet, in newspapers, or in magazines. Also, this is a very common grammar question in Part 5 of the TOEIC test, so make sure that any students you have who are preparing to write this test memorize the correct subject-verb agreement for these expressions.

I hope that clears things up for you and your students! I hope that the number of questions they have about these expressions is now zero. :)

Tanya

Source

“The number of x” takes a singular verb; “a number of x,” a plural verb.” (Einsohn, A., The Copyeditor’s Handbook, p. 344)

Examples in Use

  • “Even in regular prose, a number of expressions are almost always abbreviated and may be used without first spelling them out.” (The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., p. 488)

  • “The article that precedes the mass noun signals whether the mass noun or the number of the noun in the prepositional phrase controls the number of the verb.” (The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., p.  205)
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Comments (35)

Sergio (Guest)

True!! quite confusing and it's a hard task to make students understand.

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hajar (Guest)

thank u
it is very useful

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're welcome, Hajar! Thanks for your comment.

Anna Huynh(Guest)

Thanks so much ! It helps me a lot.

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

I'm glad to hear that, Anna! Thanks!

Mehran (Guest)

Thank you. I made a number of sentences with it.

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Perfect! :)

ozzie (Guest)

what about 'growing number of evidence'?
the growing number of evidence shows that...
is this correct? Can 'number of' be used with uncountable nouns?

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Ozzie, sorry for the late reply. For some reason, I didn't receive a notification about your comment. To answer your question, no, we can never use 'a number of' with uncountable nouns. You could use 'an amount of,' so 'a large/great amount of evidence.' It's possible to use 'growing' there, but I don't think it sounds very good with uncountable nouns. 'Large' or 'great' sounds better.

Outdong Pann(Guest)

Thanks for explanation, that's my confusion.

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're welcome!

Komy Aravinth(Guest)

Yes. It 's really useful for my confused students . Thanks again.

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Happy to hear it!

Kian (Guest)

Which one is correct?
The number of 28 obese adolescents or a number of 28 obese adolescents?

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Kian, if you're giving the actual number, there is no need for either expression. We only use 'the number of' and 'a number of' when we don't know the exact amount (in the same way we would use 'a lot' or many/much'). In your sentence, you should just use 'Twenty-eight obese adolescents...'

    Jen K.(Member)

    Former is correct

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Jen, I don't think it's possible to use either expression if you're giving a number along with it. "The number of 28..." doesn't sound natural to me.

    emmanuel (Guest)

    i have a large number of birds
    The number of birds i have is large
    madam
    which expression is suitable for use

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Emmanuel, I'm so sorry that I missed seeing this comment! Both of of your sentences are correct, and the meaning is the same. The only error is that you always need to capitalize the pronoun "I" in English. Hope that helps!

    Zubaida Akter(Guest)

    The number of parents who are supporting to their children id become stablished.

    is it correct ?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Zubaida, you're right that a singular verb is needed in your sentence to agree with "the number of," but there's a problem with your verb tense. You could say it these ways:
    - The number of parents who are supporting their children is becoming established.
    - The number of parents who are supporting their children was established.
    - The number of parents who are supporting their children became established.

    Lisa K.(Teacher)

    Thank you for this explanation. Are there any lessons that cover this topic?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Lisa, not yet, but I've passed your request to our publishing team. Thanks for the suggestion!

    Thushari Jothirathna(Guest)

    Thanks ellii u were a great help for me

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That's great to hear, Thushari!

    Sundas SIMAB (Guest)

    When we are used the number of and a number of? I am confused to choose in which sentence should I choose A numbers of or the number of.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Sundas, the simplest way to put it is to use "a number of" when your meaning is "many" and "the number of" when you want to emphasize how many. For example:

    • A number of people went to the parade downtown. (= Many people went and we're not saying a specific number.)

    • The number of people who went to the parade downtown was much greater than last year. (= Last year, 1,000 people went to the parade, but this year, 3,000 people went, for example.)

    Md.Foysal Ahmed(Guest)

    Nice definition 👍

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thank you!

    Sarah ,(Guest)

    Thanks a lot for this practical lesson

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Sarah!

    MD. HOSSEN(Guest)

    The number of people was present ,........tag question ?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    We can't use "the number of people" with the Be verb, but you can use "a number of." Here are a couple of correct tag questions:
    - A number of people were present, weren't they?
    - The number of people at this annual event increased this year, didn't it?

    Dilnoza Nn(Guest)

    Thanks a lot for a clear explanation

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome! Glad it helped.

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