An Amount of or Quantity of

mr.ahmedabdelwahed · #1 09-03-2011, 05:57 AM

“Amount of” is generally used with singular things you cannot measure. It is used with uncountable nouns.

“I have an incredible amount of work to do this week.”

Work is singular and cannot be counted or measured.

“People have a certain amount of respect for him since he stood up to the boss.”

Susan has given a large amount of her old clothing to charity.”

“Quantity of” is used with singular or plural things you can measure and these are usually inanimate things. So you wouldn’t say “a quantity of horses” but “a lot of horses” or “a large number of horses”.

“The greengrocer had a very small quantity of bananas on sale.”

“Some people think there are huge quantities of water on Mars.”

“Quantity of” seems to be more flexible than “amount of” and we can sometimes use it with uncountable nouns.

“The cause of inflation is due, not to an increase in the quantity of money but, rather, to the rise in prices.”

“Susan inherited a large amount of money when her father died.”

“I want to know the amount of sugar needed for the recipe.”

“I want to know the quantity of sugar needed for the recipe.”