How to judge the core word in a "of phrase"?

Question

Please read these two sentences:A.  With a flow of more than 700 cubic meters of water per second, huge amounts of water seem like pouring from the sky. B.  Lots of water is good for the body in that it leads to a high volume of urine.Why the core of "huge amounts of water" is "amounts", while in "lots of water", the core word is "water"?How do we judge whether the core word is before "of" or after "of" in a phrase including "of" ?Thanks a lot.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

So the question boils down to number agreement.

In X of Y, the X is called the head; the Y is called the complement.

Do we make the verb agree with the head or the complement?

Most of the time the verb agrees with the head.
Amount of, Pair of, and many others.

There are, however, some expressions - often involving concepts of quantity - where the agreement is with the complement.
Some of these are undisputed or almost entirely undisputed.
A lot of, Lots of, Plenty of, The rest of, The remainder of, A number of, A couple of

There is disagreement about others. Some grammarians believe the agreement should be with the head; others say it should be with the complement. Personally, I tend to make the agreement with the complement.
A variety of, A majority of, The majority of,

Sometimes the context will help you determine the choice.
For example, take A bunch of. I would say A bunch of angry men were gathering at the courthouse. But I would also say A bunch of flowers was beautifully arranged in a tall vase. The reason is that flowers come in bunches, but angry men don't.

CJ

Icy_blue · Answer

I have to say your explanation is very very helpful.

Thank you very much, Mr CJ.

How to judge the core word in a "of phrase"?

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