Mara nyingi, wanafunzi wa Kiingereza hupata shida kutofautisha kati ya maneno "quantity" na "amount." Ingawa yana maana inayofanana – wingi – kuna tofauti muhimu inayowatenga. "Quantity" hutumika kuzungumzia vitu vinavyoweza kuhesabiwa (countable nouns), wakati "amount" hutumika kwa vitu ambavyo haviwezi kuhesabiwa (uncountable nouns).

Hebu tuangalie mifano:

• Quantity: "A large quantity of apples were sold at the market." (Wingi mkuu wa maapuli uliuzwa sokoni.) Hapa, maapuli yanaweza kuhesabiwa. Tunaweza kusema "apple one, apple two," n.k.

• Amount: "A large amount of water was spilled." (Kiwango kikubwa cha maji kilimwagika.) Maji hayawezi kuhesabiwa moja moja; hatuwezi kusema "water one, water two."

Mfano mwingine:

• Quantity: "The quantity of students in the class is 30." (Idadi ya wanafunzi katika darasa ni 30.) Wanafunzi wanaweza kuhesabiwa.

• Amount: "The amount of homework is overwhelming." (Kiasi cha kazi ya nyumbani ni kikubwa mno.) Kazi ya nyumbani haiwezi kuhesabiwa.

Kumbuka pia kwamba "amount" mara nyingi hutumika pamoja na vitu visivyoonekana kama vile pesa, muda, au hisia. Kwa mfano:

• Amount: "The amount of money he had was insufficient." (Kiasi cha fedha alicho nacho hakikutosha.)

• Amount: "The amount of time spent on the project was significant." ( Muda uliotumika kwenye mradi huo ulikuwa mwingi.)

Kwa ufupi, kumbuka kanuni hii rahisi: "quantity" kwa vitu vinavyohesabika, "amount" kwa vitu visivyohesabika. Mazoezi zaidi yatakusaidia kuimarisha uelewa wako.

Happy learning!