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RDK Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
"An immense number" vs. "The immense number"
1) "An immense number of people were present at the conference."
2) "The immense number of people were present at the conference."
Are both of these correct? If so, is there any difference in meaning between these two sentences, other than the latter could be referring to a figure aforementioned?
Thank you in advance.
2) "The immense number of people were present at the conference."
Are both of these correct? If so, is there any difference in meaning between these two sentences, other than the latter could be referring to a figure aforementioned?
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
"-- 'The' means that all those people were mentioned before. Don't confuse this with 'a number of' (an idiomatic quantifier) vs 'the number of'.
- "-- 'The' means that all those people were mentioned before.
- Don't confuse this with 'a number of' (an idiomatic quantifier) vs 'the number of'.
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3 Answers
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1) "An immense number of people were present at the conference."-- OK
2) "The immense number of people were also present at the conference."-- 'The' means that all those people were mentioned before.
Don't confuse this with 'a number of' (an idiomatic quantifier) vs 'the number of'.
2) "The immense number of people were also present at the conference."-- 'The' means that all those people were mentioned before.
Don't confuse this with 'a number of' (an idiomatic quantifier) vs 'the number of'.
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Thank you very much! but is there any reason why you had to put "also" in the second sentence?
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RDKis there any reason why you had to put "also" in the second sentence?It is there to rationalize the use of 'the', since there is no further context to do so.
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