The second sentence seems like it's describing the situation more in general. The great numbers of people consuming alcohol has declined.īut the first one seems like it's describing a specific survey result, because it mentions The great number (i.e.The great number of people consuming alcohol has declined.These sentences also mean pretty much the same thing: Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun. Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, things, concepts, and places. In many cases, though, this difference may not matter, and you could use either phrase. A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun, often to avoid the need to repeat the same noun over and over. It seems to describe the situation more generally. Its up to each individual to decide which pronoun best.

on different days, or at different times), because the plural ( Great numbers) means that there is more than one measurement of the number of people. The ze/hir, ze/zir pronoun sets come from the trans community as another gender-neutral pronoun set. There's only a slight difference: the second sentence implies that the number of people may change (e.g. Great numbers of people pass through the station every day.A great number of people pass through the station every day.In many cases, several of these phrases can be used, with similar meanings.

What is the pronoun