Amount vs Number | Ask Linda! | English Grammar

In this video Linda takes us through the difference in using “amount” and “number”. We use “amount” when we want to refer to uncountable commodities such as water, electricity, money etc. Whereas, “number” is used to refer to individual things that are countable such as book, cat, chair etc. In the example “a greater amount of people are going to the gym” the use of “amount” is incorrect because we can count “people”. In this case “number” should be used. A correct example of the use of “amount” is “a greater amount of rain came down in November compared to October”. Here “rain” is uncountable so “amount” should be used.