the amount of后可接复数名词吗

问题描述

amount of 后面通常是接不可数名词的。有的书上说，amount of 后面只能接不可数名词，不能接可数名词；而有的书上则说，amount of 后面通常接不可数名词，很少（或偶尔）接可数名词。我想请教一下各位专家老师：如何理解这个“很少（或偶尔）接可数名词”，有amount of 后面接可数名词的例子吗？

老师答疑

黎老师：

中国大百科全书出版社2010年1月第1版 《韦氏高阶英语词典》 （Merriam - Webster's Advanced LEARNER'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY）指出：（p.50）

usage Amount is chiefly used with noncount nouns.

· He lost a large amount of money.

· a minimum amount of effort

· They provided only a small amount of information.

It is also sometimes used with plural count nouns, but this use is often criticized as an error.

· There were a large amount of mistakes.

Number is the usual word in such contexts.

· a large number of mistakes

· an increasing number of problems

所以，在amount of后面主要接不可数名词，有时候也接复数可数名词。但是后一种用法经常被认为是错误的。