Difference between the number of and A number of.

📕📘 The number of
📕📘 A number of

✅The number of students is increasing.
✅A number of students are absent today.

✅ “the number of” doesn’t mean “many.” think of it as one number.
So even though that number might be large, the purpose of this expression is to compare this one number/amount with another number/amount. For example, we would say “The number of crimes in New York has increased this year.”

✅ A number of means many. Because “many + plural noun” takes a plural verb, you would say “Many cars are on the freeway during rush hour