The governor may be a precise or vague count/measurement.
This includes nouns like “lack”, “dearth”, “shortage”, “excess”, or “surplus” (meaning a too-small or too-large amount).

Question test: the governor answers “How much/many of (object)?”

The main preposition is [p en/of].

###1. Simple [ss QuantityItem]:

- [ex 001 "Pour me a bottle(’s worth) [p en/of QuantityItem] beer. [but see [exref 006 Stuff]]"]

- [ex 002 "I have 2 years [p en/of QuantityItem] training."]

- [ex 003 "I ate <u>6 ounces</u>/<u>a piece</u> [p en/of QuantityItem] cake."]

- [ex 004 "An ounce [p en/of QuantityItem] compassion"]

- [ex 005 "There’s a dearth [p en/of QuantityItem] cake in the house."]

- [ex 006 "This cake has thousands [p en/of QuantityItem] sprinkles."]

- [ex 007 "They number in the tens [p en/of QuantityItem] thousands."]

- [ex 008 "I have a <u>number</u>/<u>handful</u> [p en/of QuantityItem] students."]

- [ex 009 "I have a lot [p en/of QuantityItem] students."]

- [ex 010 "We did a lot [p en/of QuantityItem] traveling."]

- [ex 011 "There is a lot [p en/of QuantityItem] wet sand on the beach."]

- [ex 012 "A pair [p en/of QuantityItem] shoes"]

###2. If the measure includes a word like “amount”, “quantity”, or “number”,[^1] the construal [ss QuantityItem--Gestalt] is used (because the amount of something can be viewed as an attribute):

-  [ss QuantityItem--Gestalt]:
	- [ex 013 "A generous amount [p en/of QuantityItem--Gestalt] time"]

	- [ex 014 "A large number [p en/of QuantityItem--Gestalt] students"]

But if “amount”, “quantity”, etc. is used without a measure as its modifier, it is simply [ss Gestalt]: see [exref 009 Gestalt].

###3. If the governor is a **collective noun** not denoting an organization, the construal [ss QuantityItem--Stuff] is used (note that a “consisting of” paraphrase is possible):

-  [ss QuantityItem--Stuff]:
	- [ex 015 "Can you outrun a herd [p en/of QuantityItem--Stuff] wildebeest?"]

	- [ex 016 "Put 3 bales [p en/of QuantityItem--Stuff] hay on the truck."]

	- [ex 017 "<u>A group</u>/<u>2 groups</u>/<u>A throng</u> [p en/of QuantityItem--Stuff] vacationers just arrived."]

For organizational collectives, see [ss OrgMember].

###4. Otherwise, if the object refers to **a specific item or set**, and the quantity measures a portion of that item (whether a quantifier, absolute measure, or fractional measure), the construal [ss QuantityItem--Whole] is used:

-  [ss QuantityItem--Whole]:
	- [ex 018 "I ate 6 ounces [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the cake in the refrigerator."]

	- [ex 019 "I ate <u>half</u>/<u>50%</u> [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the cake."]

	- [ex 020 "<u>All</u>/<u>many</u>/<u>lots</u>/<u>a lot</u>/<u>some</u>/<u>few</u>/<u>both</u>/<u>none</u> [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the town’s residents   are students."]

	- [ex 021 "I have seen all [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the city. (= the whole city)"]

	- [ex 022 "A lot [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the sand on the beach is wet."]

	- [ex 023 "2 [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the children are redheads."]

	- [ex 024 "2 [p en/of QuantityItem--Whole] the 10 children in the class are redheads."]

However, simple [ss Whole] is used if the portion is specified as “the rest”, “the remainder”, etc., as in [exref 020 Whole].

[^1]: Excluding the expression “a number” meaning ‘several’, as in [exref 008 QuantityItem].