tell if you know ???

[lg_makara]

a fomular :
                              A number of + Plural noun + Verb plural
                              The number of + Plural noun + V singular

Please explain it , why we use like this ?

thanks for your help .....

[Kimlong]

Hi Makara!! Are you Long Makara, who live in Kompong Thom Province?
Anyway let go the the business!!

A number of= Many
Ex: A number of students are going to play football on Sat! ( count one by one)

The number of= Figure of something

Ex: The number of tourists in 2007 is increasing 20% compared to 2006. ( just figure)

Kimlong

[Greeny]

We use the second one when we use the noun " The number of something" as a collective noun.