"most number of"

[joenuts]

Is this correct?

They have the most number of graduating students.

[Coffa]

In a word - yes!

[joenuts]

Originally Posted by Coffa

In a word - yes!

In that case, what would be the positive and comparative forms of 'most' in that context?

[Tdol]

You'd posbably use something different like 'higher number'.

[joenuts]

Originally Posted by tdol

You'd posbably use something different like 'higher number'.

In an exercise, the following items were given:

Many students graduate from...
______ students graduate from...
The ______ number of students graduate from...

The answer in the second item is 'more', of course. I'm not sure how to explain the fact that in the first two sentences, the adjectives modify plural nouns, while in the third sentence, the noun is singular. How do I explain the concept of 'number' in that context?

[Tdol]

You could just say 'the most students', so it's still a plural.