The amount of hours we spent on the work was rather small. No Error. (全国研考)请帮助分析句中的错误。
见 amount/number。
number concord 见 agreement
number style(记数方法) 见 dates
telephone number 见 zero
the number of/a number of
the number of 与 a number of 有什么区别?
the number of 与 a number of 在语义上是完全不同的。前者意为“……的数目”，后者意为“许多”（= many）、“若干”：
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I want to know the number of the motor-vehicles. 我想了解机动车的数目。
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The number of books missing from the library is large. 图书馆丢失的图书数量是很大的。
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I have a number of reasons. 我有许多理由。
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A number of students were absent yesterday. 昨天有一些学生缺席。
其次,由于 the number of 是指事物的数目这一概念,所以,它的谓语动词要用单数:
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The number of competitors is limited. 参赛者的数目是有限的。
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The number of jobless people grows. 失业人数在增加。
而 a number of 是指“许多……”“一些”，所以它的谓语动词要用复数：
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There were a number of people out this afternoon. 今天下午有许多人外出。
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A number of accidents have occurred. 发生了一些事故。
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“Why is the university doing so much building?” “The number of students ____.” A. have increased so rapidly B. has increased so rapid C. have increased so rapid D. has increased so rapidly (TOEFL)
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The number of people invited ____ fifty, but a number of them ____ absent for different reasons.
A. were; was B. was; was C. was; were D. were; were(全国高考,96-14)
[参见 a(a number of... are/is)]