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hundreds of persons

hundreds persons

Could you please learn me what is the difference between the two?

Thanks in advance

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    "Hundreds persons"?! Where have you seen this? I can't seem to make a crystal clear usage of it. – M.A.R. Jan 11 '15 at 9:16
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    'Persons' makes you sound like a lawyer. Use 'people'… most people would ;) – gone fishin' again. Jan 11 '15 at 10:29
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If you use hundreds then it is followed by of. "hundreds persons/people" is wrong. Structures of the type "how much/ how many of what" use "of" in English with few exceptions and fall under the heading partitive or partitive genitive.

Why do we say "hundreds of demonstrators but a hundred/one hundred demonstrators (without of)?

Answer:You say fifty persons because it is a numeral. Though a hundred/one hundred still has some features of a noun it is regarded as a numeral, whereas hundreds is regarded as a noun describing a quantity just as a lot of/ a quantity of etc.

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  • If answers to "how many?" use "of", why don't we say "one hundred of people"? – The Photon Jan 11 '15 at 16:28
  • You say fifty persons because it is a numeral. Though a hundred/one hundred still has some features of a noun it is regarded as a numeral, whereas hundreds is regarded as a noun describing a quantity just as a lot of/ a quantity of etc. – rogermue Jan 11 '15 at 17:14
  • That would be a helpful clarification to add to your answer. – The Photon Jan 11 '15 at 17:55
  • A lot of work but I will try. – rogermue Jan 11 '15 at 18:10
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Did you happen to be reading from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary? It says:

of preposition (AMOUNT)

used after words or phrases expressing amount, number, or a particular unit:

  • a kilo of apples
    loads of food
    hundreds of people
    most of them
    both of us
    a third of all people
    a speck of dust
    a drop of rain

In any case, the word of cannot be removed from any of those phrases; the resulting phrase would sound unidiomatic and ungrammatical.

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    It's not in the question as written, but OP might be confused because we don't say "one hundred of people". – The Photon Jan 11 '15 at 16:23
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I'm inclined to believe that the first one is true. We have the structure: amount + of + N. Any other statemtent with no "of" is wrong. I also found a passage which contains an equivalent example to the usage of the phrase "hundreds of persons" http://dethi.violet.vn/present/show/entry_id/239291

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