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Hans51 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
"They are gathering in big numbers and blocking the gates."
"They are gathering in big numbers and blocking the gates."
I have seen the sentence and I was wondering if the word number itself can be used for the meaning of people and I think that "gather in" is used for the meaning of "collect" as a transitive verb or is there a different usage and meaning for the word "number" and "gather in"?
What do you native English speakers think? Thank you so much in advance.
I have seen the sentence and I was wondering if the word number itself can be used for the meaning of people and I think that "gather in" is used for the meaning of "collect" as a transitive verb or is there a different usage and meaning for the word "number" and "gather in"?
What do you native English speakers think? Thank you so much in advance.
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The sentence quoted is correct, although you might more often hear "in large numbers." The verb here is "to gather," not "to gather in." The prepositional phrase "in big numbers" has an adverbial function and modifies the verb "to gather." The word "numbers" here does not mean "people" (the word "numbers" is not used in English to mean "people"), rather, it means something more like "groups."
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