tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post7285989534091517707..comments2023-10-30T12:26:15.822+01:00Comments on Research as a Second Language: Quality and QuantityThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-57505043283032437072012-06-01T18:21:21.359+02:002012-06-01T18:21:21.359+02:00I think it's interesting that "amount of&...I think it's interesting that "amount of" with a plural noun is relatively common but "number of" with a non-count noun is pretty much nonexistent.Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-43306301847472077322012-06-01T14:44:49.853+02:002012-06-01T14:44:49.853+02:00Not really, since it's not something I would h...Not really, since it's not something I would have caught given only five more minutes. I think it would have escaped my attention on this argument:<br /><br />"Amount is also used with plural count nouns when they are thought of as an aggregate:<br /><br />- . . . who wrote the U.N. that he'd be glad to furnish any amount of black pebbles. --New Yorker, 20 Sept. 1952<br /><br />- . . . the high amount of taxes. --Harper's Weekly, 29 Sept. 1975<br /><br />- $6.5 billion: Amount of advertising dollars spent on pre-buys for the fall season. --Time, 7 June 1999<br /><br />This less common use of amount is sometimes called incorrect, but the critics bring forward no cogent reason for condemning it. The use is well established in general prose." (Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage, Merriam-Webster, 2002)<br /><br />Errors populate my writing like pebbles on a beach. Given a bit more time and thought, while weighing "amount of error" against "number of mistakes" perhaps, and coming up with no cogent reason to condemn the first draft, I might even let it stand. Errors are individual things, but it is not their number that annoys me, it is their amount.<br /><br />That said, if this is the sort of error you like to avoid (and/or you like to avoid this sort of criticism) then, yes, it would be the kind of error that you want to leave yourself some time in your writing to spot and correct before moving on to the next paragraph.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-20243194071553049912012-06-01T11:57:18.717+02:002012-06-01T11:57:18.717+02:00Do you consider "amount of errors" (inst...Do you consider "amount of errors" (instead of "number") such an error?fjbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02632401949893110046noreply@blogger.com