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Yuko Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Number or Numbers

Came across something like:
"There is an even number of boys and girls."
I'd be grateful to hear an explanation why this "number" here should be singular. Is it because the numbers are the same?

However, in a dictionary I found the following example:
"Use even amounts of butter and sugar."
  

Top answer

Number here means count . An even number is divisible by 2. Ballroom dance classes do much better if there is an even number of boys and girls.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Number here means count .
  • An even number is divisible by 2.
  • Ballroom dance classes do much better if there is an even number of boys and girls.
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7 Answers
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Number here means count. An even number is divisible by 2.

Ballroom dance classes do much better if there is an even number of boys and girls.
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YukoThere is an even number of boys and girls.
Sorry, but this doesn't make sense to me. Thirteen boys and three girls makes an even number of boys and girls, and I don't think that was the intended meaning.

The number of boys is the same as the number of girls.

CJ
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It should have been:

"There is an equal number of boys and girls.
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AlpheccaStarsIt should have been:"There is an equal number of boys and girls.
Really? I would have said There are an equal number of boys and girls.
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Then, there are equal numbers of boys and girls.
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This is actually what I thought it might be Emotion: smile
Although I believe there is an argument for saying "there is" instead of "there are
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I like your maths; it struck me as odd as well.
If that were the case, there would be an even number of boys and an even number of girls.
What I wondered then was whether one even number and another made two even numbers.
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