 Amount vs. Number These two words are often confused, but bear in mind that they are not interchangeable. Let's take a closer look. Amount refers to uncountable commodities, such as water, electricity, money, advice, and so on. Number is used for individual things that are countable, such as book, cat, chair, and so on. A greater amount of people are going to the gym. Wrong. You can count people, right? So that's why we need to use number instead of amount. A greater number of people are going to the gym. Another correct example would be a greater amount of rain came down in November compared to October. Next time you're not quite sure, ask yourself if the noun you're talking about is countable or uncountable. That's it for today. See you next time.