Amount of resources vs number of resources (2025)

Dear all,

I have learned that in "the number of something" something should be a countable noun, while in "the amount of something" something should be an uncountable noun. But when it comes to the noun "resource", I have seen both "the number of resources" and "the amount of resources". Can anyone explain this? Thank you so much!

Both could work because "resources" may be countable or uncountable. Which you use will depend on context.

Welcome to the forum.

Barque said:

Both could work because "resources" may be countable or uncountable. Which you use will depend on context.

Welcome to the forum.

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Thanks, Barque!

jeromedong said:

I have learned that [...] "the amount of something" something should be an uncountable noun.

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That is not a rule. It is general guidance. It is commoner to use an uncountable noun after "amount of" but you will also find plurals. There are no real rules in English.

Amount = the sum total of individual items

1985 N.Y. Times 18 Dec. d27/6 When you can get five goals on thirteen shots, that pretty much makes up for any amount of mistakes.

PaulQ said:

That is not a rule. It is general guidance. It is commoner to use an uncountable noun after "amount of" but you will also find plurals. There are no real rules in English.

Amount = the sum total of individual items

1985 N.Y. Times 18 Dec. d27/6 When you can get five goals on thirteen shots, that pretty much makes up for any amount of mistakes.

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Thanks, PaulQ!

Barque said:

Both could work because "resources" may be countable or uncountable. Which you use will depend on context.

Welcome to the forum.

Click to expand...

PaulQ said:

That is not a rule. It is general guidance. It is commoner to use an uncountable noun after "amount of" but you will also find plurals. There are no real rules in English.

Amount = the sum total of individual items

1985 N.Y. Times 18 Dec. d27/6 When you can get five goals on thirteen shots, that pretty much makes up for any amount of mistakes.

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But no matter if you use the plural or the singular of resource after amount of, the verb would always be used in the singular and not in the plural because amount is singular. Is that correct?

Anna Romani said:

Regarding this case, would it be viable to write in a label 'Resources number'?

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Anna Romani said:

It

should

will be

the

a column name in a table. The column shows the number of resources counted for each line (resources being here the specific name of the counted items)

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No. "Number of Resources" (Note capitalisation.)

This is an old thread, but hopefully I can post a further question here.

Which one of these is correct? Or both? My thinking is, since some natural resources are uncountable, both are acceptable.

1) a limited number of natural resources
or
2) a limited amount of natural resources?

Thank you!

The use of number or amount is determined by context. You have given no context. As a result, there can be no answer.

However, in broad terms

A number of Xs indicates a finite set of individual, countable, examples, e.g."There is a limited number of cat breeds that like to swim."

In your example, you could count the number of examples of types of natural resource that are available.

Amount of Xs is an indefinite measure of an amorphous quantity, measure, or volume that is seen as one unit: "He took an amount of water and added it to the mixture." "Three percent of people like to take a cold shower. I know 3% isn't a large amount, but it is significant."

In your example, you speak of an amorphous quantity of a set of examples of various natural resources that are available.

Thank you PaulQ!

I should have posted the phrase in a context straight away. But here's the text:

"The earth has only a limited amount of natural resources. Our current wellbeing and the global economic model are based on overconsumption of natural resources."

Any thoughts? I'd be grateful.

jonko said:

Any thoughts?

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The plural in English has two meanings:
Dogs are good pets. Dogs = dogs in general; any dog; the class of creature called "dog". Here we use "amount"
How many dogs do you own? Dogs = examples of dogs; individual dogs.
Here we use "number."

Individuals have numbers; classes and groups have an amount or quantity taken from a (set of) non-finite resource(s).

Otherwise, see Tegs, above.

Thank you!
I could only find explanations that number is used with countables and amount with uncountables, and that you actually would have to use them that way.

Your replies were really helpful.