"A number of" and "a great deal of" - Grammar - UsingEnglish.com

Are there any differences between "a number of" and "a great deal of"? If I say: "He visited ______ countries", which word is correct? Home Forums What'snew Members Login Register What'snew Search Newposts Searchforums Help Rules Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install Forums LearningEnglish AskaTeacher Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. [Grammar] "Anumberof"and"agreatdealof" Threadstarter ngoc_lan Startdate Jan24,2012 Status Notopenforfurtherreplies. N ngoc_lan Member Joined Dec19,2011 MemberType StudentorLearner NativeLanguage Vietnamese HomeCountry Vietnam CurrentLocation Vietnam Arethereanydifferencesbetween"anumberof"and"agreatdealof"? IfIsay:"Hevisited______countries",whichwordiscorrect? Thanksforyourhelp.   Sortbydate Sortbyvotes R Rover_KE Moderator Staffmember Joined Jun20,2010 MemberType RetiredEnglishTeacher NativeLanguage English HomeCountry England CurrentLocation England Theyarenotusedinthesameway. 'Hevisitedanumberofcountries'(maybethreeorfour). 'Hevisitedagreatnumberof(or'agreatmany')countries'(about15to20). 'Hisalcoholismcausedhisfamilyagreatdealofhardship'. 'Passingmydrivingtestgavemeagreatdealofpleasure'. Rover   Upvote 0 Downvote N ngoc_lan Member Joined Dec19,2011 MemberType StudentorLearner NativeLanguage Vietnamese HomeCountry Vietnam CurrentLocation Vietnam Thankyouverymuch   Upvote 0 Downvote P philo2009 SeniorMember Joined Jan16,2009 MemberType Academic NativeLanguage BritishEnglish HomeCountry UK CurrentLocation Japan Inotherwords,'anumberof'+PLURALnoun,'agreatdealof'+SINGULARNONCOUNTnoun.   Upvote 0 Downvote Status Notopenforfurtherreplies. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link Forums LearningEnglish AskaTeacher ThisforumisdesignedsothatlearnerscanaskquestionstoteachersabouttheEnglishlanguage. PostTitles Threadtitlesshouldincludeallorpartoftheword/phrasebeingdiscussed.(Avoidphraseslike"HELP!","Urgent!","translationplease","howdoIsaythis","I'mnew"andsimilarexpressions.) AboutReplyingtoPosts: YouarewelcometoanswerquestionspostedintheAskaTeacherforumaslongasyoursuggestions,help,andadvicereflectagoodunderstandingoftheEnglishlanguage.Ifyouarenotateacher,youwillneedtostatethatclearlyinyourpost.Pleasenote,allpostsaremoderatedbyourin-houselanguageexperts,somakesureyoursuggestions,help,andadviceprovidethekindofinformationaninternationallanguageteacherwouldoffer.Ifnot,andyourpostsdonotcontributetothetopicinapositiveway,theywillbesubjecttodeletion. Homework: Pleasedon'taskustodoorcorrectyourhomework;thisisaplacetodiscusslanguage. Top