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  1. There is a large quantity of people.

  2. There are a large quantity of people.

Are both correct?

herisson
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Nat
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2 Answers2

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I'd use number instead of quantity here. I'm not a native speaker, but

There is a large number of people

sounds more natural.

herisson
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w.b
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  • I'm a native speaker, and agree. "There are a large quantity/number of people" is incorrect because there's one quantity/number, whereas "there are lots of people" is fine, because in this case it's the people that there are lots of, not the quantity or number. – AndrewC May 10 '15 at 23:15
  • "Number" is used for countable (integer) things. "Quantity" is used for continuous values. You can only have a whole number of people. – DJClayworth May 10 '15 at 23:53
  • What exactly is the reason you suggest the use of "number" rather than "quantity"? You can't really base your answer, solely, upon the fact that it "sounds more natural" to you, after warning us that you are "not a native speaker." Expand upon this answer, please. –  May 11 '15 at 03:20
  • @AndrewC A larger number of people would seem to use "there are a large number ..." according to these Google Ngrams. Aswers here (by native speakers such as myself) agree ... and contain supporting references. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 09 '17 at 15:24
  • 'There are a large number of people' (compare 'There are a score of people', 'There are a couple of people') sounds more natural (to me). And this usage is backed by authoritative references, which this answer sadly lacks. See Chris's answer. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 09 '17 at 15:26
  • @EdwinAshworth You're sneeringly holding me to a standard of proof appropriate for an answer rather than an off-the-cuff remark I made over two years ago in the comments. In terms of academic rigour behind comments, note that your ngrams aren't a complete sentence as in the OP, and your linked Q is a rather different case wherethe singular is clearly nonsensical. You don't groom a Sphynx just because you groom a Persian. You might well be right, but it turns out that right and polite are two different things. Yes, I'm aware of that irony. Here's a dictionary reference. – AndrewC Oct 09 '17 at 20:51
  • @AndrewC I was not sneering. I was trying to undo any damage your 'I'm a native speaker and agree' might have done to any people thinking that this is a suitable endorsement. This answer is unhelpful; Oxford Dictionaries provide a well researched answer. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 10 '17 at 16:50
  • @EdwinAshworth Why not upvote the other answer then? You have the power! – AndrewC Oct 10 '17 at 17:02
  • @AndrewC I'll not visit this thread again. // The question has been marked as a duplicate by five other users, with whom I certainly agree, though I think the wrong original may have been given here. I rarely consider an answer to such a question meritorious enough to upvote. Possibly, I upvoted the correct answer in the original thread. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 10 '17 at 18:45
  • @EdwinAshworth In a site designed for the best answers to rise to the top by the votes of users, I find your decision to open an argument/discussion in the comments but refrain from voting bizarre. I hardly think the reputation is going to drive poor Chris senseless with pride when it nearly doubles his/her meagre total. Carefully refraining from voting on the grounds that someone found a duplicate of the question a couple of years later is backwards. I get that you don't want to encourage rep chasing on duplicates, but that's hardly a risk here. Try to think of voting as making the best ans – AndrewC Oct 10 '17 at 20:16
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I thought this excerpt from Oxford Dictionaries was instructive:

Although the expression ‘a number’ is strictly singular, the phrase ‘a number of’' is used with plural nouns (as what grammarians call a determiner (or determiner)). The verb should therefore be plural:

A number of people are waiting for the bus.

This is not the case with ‘the number’, which is still singular:

The number of people here has increased since this morning.

Community
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Chris
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