5 Noun & Quantifier Traps in TOEFL ITP: Much vs Many, Few vs Little, Number vs Amount

“The mentor gave many useful advices to us.” Sounds fine, right? It actually contains two mistakes: advice can’t be made plural, and many can’t be used with an uncountable noun. The correct version: “The mentor gave much useful advice to us.”

Errors like this are everyday material in Written Expression (the second part of TOEFL® ITP Section 2, 25 questions where you find the incorrect word). They often sound normal to the ear, so they slip past easily.

Everything comes down to one concept: countable vs uncountable nouns. Once that clicks, the 5 traps below become much easier to spot. (The slides below are in Indonesian, with English example sentences.)

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The Basics: Countable vs Uncountable

• Countable nouns can be counted one by one and have a plural form: a book, two books, many passengers.
• Uncountable nouns (also called mass or non-count nouns) aren’t counted by unit and have no plural form: information, research, money, traffic, pollution.

Uncountable nouns always take a singular verb: The information is useful, not are. For a refresher on plural forms, see the singular vs plural guide.

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Trap 1: Much vs Many

Quantifier	Used with	Example
many	plural countable nouns	many books, many facts
much	uncountable nouns	much time, much research

❌ The library lacks many informations on pottery.

✅ The library lacks much information on pottery.

Information is uncountable, so it can’t take -s and can’t follow many.

Quick trick: whenever you see many, check the noun to its right. It must be plural (-s/-es or an irregular plural like people or children). If the noun can’t be plural, switch to much.

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Trap 2: Few/Fewer vs Little/Less

Same pairing as much vs many:

• few / fewer with plural countable nouns: fewer cars, fewer pollutants.
• little / less with uncountable nouns: less traffic, less pollution.

❌ Modern engines emit less pollutants into the air.

✅ Modern engines emit fewer pollutants into the air.

Pollutants ends in -s and is countable, so it needs fewer. People often say “less people” in casual speech, but TOEFL tests formal written English.

Bonus nuance: a few and a little mean “some, enough” (positive), while few and little without a mean “almost none” (negative). She has a few friends sounds fine; She has few friends sounds lonely.

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Trap 3: Number of vs Amount of

• a / the number of + plural countable noun: a number of passengers, the number of students.
• an / the amount of + uncountable noun: a large amount of cash, the amount of water.

❌ A large amount of passengers boarded the jet.

✅ A large number of passengers boarded the jet.

Passengers can be counted, so use number.

There’s a follow-up subject-verb agreement trap:

• A number of + plural noun + plural verb: A number of students are absent. (meaning “several students”)
• The number of + plural noun + singular verb: The number of students is increasing. (the subject is “the number”)

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Trap 4: Nouns That Never Take -s

These seven appear on TOEFL all the time, and all of them are uncountable:

information, equipment, furniture, luggage, advice, evidence, homework

❌ The laboratory ordered new equipments for research.

✅ The laboratory ordered new equipment for research.

To count them, use a partitive: a piece of advice, two pieces of luggage, an item of equipment.

In Written Expression, if you see one of these words with -s (informations, furnitures, evidences), that’s almost certainly the error. You can extend the list with other common ones like knowledge, research, news, and traffic.

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Trap 5: Foreign Plurals (Criteria, Phenomena)

Some Greek and Latin loanwords form their plural without -s:

Singular	Plural
criterion	criteria
phenomenon	phenomena
datum	data
analysis	analyses
hypothesis	hypotheses

❌ This scientific criteria are verified by experts.

✅ These scientific criteria are verified by experts.

Criteria is already plural, so it pairs with these and are, not this or is. The reverse mistake is common too: a criteria or this phenomena (should be a criterion, this phenomenon).

A note on data: in modern English, data is also widely used as an uncountable noun with a singular verb (the data is…), and that’s accepted. So for TOEFL, use criteria and phenomena as your main reference points, since they are always plural.

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Summary

Trap	Countable	Uncountable
Basic quantifier	many	much
”Less of”	few / fewer	little / less
Quantity phrase	number of	amount of
Plural form	books, passengers	information, equipment (no -s)
Foreign plurals	criteria, phenomena (use these/are)	data (often used as singular)

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Quick Quiz

Find the error:

1. There were less accidents on the highway this year.
2. She gave me some useful advices about the interview.
3. The amount of students in the class has doubled.
4. This phenomena was first observed in 1905.

Answers:

1. less → fewer (accidents is a plural countable noun).
2. advices → advice (uncountable).
3. amount of → number of (students can be counted).
4. This phenomena was → This phenomenon was (or These phenomena were).

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Practice Until It’s Automatic

Knowing the rules is step one. To make your eyes catch less, amount of, or equipments instantly on test day, you need plenty of Written Expression practice.

Kawan EPT (formerly Kawan TOEFL) has more than 7,400 questions with explanations for every answer choice, Grammar lessons covering 33 topics in a Learn, Drill, and Master flow, and a Weakness Drill that automatically targets the topics you miss most. When you’re ready, take the full 140-question simulation to get a score estimate from 310 to 677. Free on the Google Play Store.