Dear Geist,
I hope you can tell me what’s wrong with this sentence: A huge amount of people showed up. Our writing teacher highlights sentences that need work and makes us figure out what’s wrong. Usually I can, but not this time.
—Foiled in Fredericton
Dear Foiled,
The culprit is amount. The plural noun people in your sentence is a count noun—that is, it consists of elements that can be counted or quantified. So you would say or write “number of people” for the clearest comprehension. For a mass noun—one that cannot be quantified with a number: ketchup, for example—the word amount is the right one.
—The Editors
