Learn English – “People decrease” or “The number of people decrease”

collective-nouns

I'm writing a formal technical report. I'm bit confused about how to use "decrease".

The report discusses the shift in the number of people heading home in the evening.

I'd like to say "the number of people who go their home slowly decrease(s?) after 6 pm".

Which is the correct expression?

The number of people who go their home slowly decrease after 6 pm

People who go their home slowly decrease after 6 pm

I'm also worried about the relatively long subject in this sentence. Is "The number of people who go their home" too long for a subject? My teacher says shorter subjects are better in English writing.

Thank you and please help.

Best Answer

You could simplify the first sentence like this:

The number of people going home decreases slowly after 6 pm.

Decrease requires an s because we are talking about a number (singular) not the people (plural). slowly should be after the verb so that the reader doesn't visualise people walking slowly.

The number of gives important information, and should be included for clarity. If you leave it out, it sounds like each person gets smaller after 6pm. This meaning is not grammatically correct because a person cannot decrease, but an impression of the incorrect meaning may appear in the reader's mind if you do not start the sentence correctly.

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