Are you uncertain about when to use 'number' and when to use 'amount'? Here are a few pointers to guide you in the right direction....

1. Which do we use?
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2. Can the quantity be counted?
Yes  number
No  amount
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3. Number is used with countable nouns i.e.
things that can be counted.
They bought that house a number of years ago.
The number of people living on the streets is increasing.
These conferences attract large numbers (of attendees).
The volunteers turned out in small numbers.
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4. Amount is used with uncountable nouns i.e.
things that cannot be counted.
The amount of money he spends on his car is ridiculous!
Use equal amounts of water and milk.
He was arrested with a small amount of drugs*.
He put a great amount of work into this project.
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5.  ‘amount + plural noun
 ‘number’ + plural noun
e.g.
 amount of reasons  amount of tries
 number of reasons  number of tries
 amount of followers
 number of followers
*There are a few exceptions to this rule.
e.g. ‘amount of drugs’, ‘amount of monies’
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6. Collective nouns which refer to persons are used with
‘number’.
A small number of people gathered to watch the parade.
The voting public turned out in large numbers.
Do you recall the exact number at the last census?
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7. Some nouns can be used with both ‘number’ and
‘amount’ depending on their meanings in the singular
and plural.
We tried to contact him a number of times. (countable)
We wasted a huge amount of time yesterday. (uncountable)
Lana has a number of loves but reading tops the list. (countable)
Lana has a great amount of love for her students. (uncountable)
He managed to implement a number of changes at the firm. (countable)
He managed to effect a small amount of change at the firm. (uncountable)
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