Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[AliceL]

Dear teacher
I want to ask about the usage between amount, number, quantiry and a lot of.
For example.
1.A large amount of chickens were infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu.
2.A large number of chickens were infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu.
3.A large quantity of chickens were infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu.
4.A lot of chickens were infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu.

Which sentences are right?
Please tell me, thanks!

Best wishes,
AliceL : )

[pugachevV]

A large amount..... was...
A large number... was
A large quantity... was

The single subject needs a single verb. This rule used to be engraved in stone (so to speak) but in the current laissez-faire environment, it is becoming acceptable to have the sentences written as in your examples.

A lot of chickens were or was -either is OK.

[AliceL]

Thanks for teacher's reply.

I would want to ask more "amount, number, quantiry and a lot of always can be replace in other sentence or they have some rule when we use?

Please tell me, thanks!

Best wishes,
AliceL

[pugachevV]

You can usually avoid them all.
If you know the figures involved, and presumably you must, then you can simply state it.
e.g. Ten million chickens were affected by ...etc.
Millions of chickens were affected by H1N1

[AliceL]

Dear Teacher:

Thanks again for your reply. It helped a lot!!

Best wishes,
AliceL