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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Counting...

A Spanish friend of mine recently questioned me on the correctness of my use of language within a scientific paper that I am currently writing. I have used the phrase, "The number of stained cells was counted...", and my friend argues that the correct phrase should be, "The stained cells were counted...", and you would always count the number. He argues that my phrase is simply re-stating an already obvious fact, and as such, is incorrect.

Could anyone out there clear this up for me? Would I count the cells, or count the number of cells???
  

Top answer

Your friend would appear to be correct. The phrase "number of", in the example you cite, adds no additional meaning to the sentence. It is therefore simply "clutter".

— Rommie

  • Your friend would appear to be correct.
  • The phrase "number of", in the example you cite, adds no additional meaning to the sentence.
  • It is therefore simply "clutter".
  • If the extra words had added extra information then you'd have had a case for keeping them.
  • (Also, if the work had been poetry then you could have argued that you'd had to keep them because the poem wouldn't have been aesthetically correct without them).
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1 Answers
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Your friend would appear to be correct. The phrase "number of", in the example you cite, adds no additional meaning to the sentence. It is therefore simply "clutter". If the extra words had added extra information then you'd have had a case for keeping them. (Also, if the work had been poetry then you could have argued that you'd had to keep them because the poem wouldn't have been aesthe
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