Originally Posted by
jiang
Dear teachers,
Please read the following sentence:
There were a number of professors at the meeting, few of whom I had ever heard of.
This sentence means I had heard almost none of them. Am I right?
No, unless you left out the word "of" by mistake. "To hear someone" is to hear that person speak. "To hear of someone" is to be aware of that person's existence/reputation/contributions. Your sentence would have been correct if you had written, "I had heard
of almost none of them."
Another question is we can't use 'some' and 'many' with 'ever'. Am I right?
For example, I can't say 'There were a number of professors at the meeting, some of whom I had ever heard of'. The reason is that 'ever' should be used in interrogative or negative sentences while some can be used in positive and interrogative sentences. Am I right?
Yes, you are mostly correct. You could say, "There were a number of professors at the meeting, only some of whom I had ever heard of."
:wink:
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