question: Manhattan GMAT SC-page 165, idioms

[yilou001]

"The grey oyster nearly vanished, but its numbers have rebounded."---------------"its numbers" plural

"The number of dogs has fallen." --------- singular

Why the first number is plural, but the second number is singular?

[tim]

I wish I could answer that, but unfortunately there is never an answer to a "why" question when dealing with idioms. :) You just have to memorize which idiom to use when - and keeping canonical examples such as these in mind will be useful for that purpose.

[barlemon942]

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[tim]

Thanks!