a lot of vs a great deal of

[baab]

I hear ... birds singing.

A. a little
B. much
C. a lot of
D. a great deal of

It seems to me that both C and D are correct here. If not, could you explain the answer with your reasoning?

 

[Englishmypassion]

For me only C is correct, since, I think, a great deal is used for uncountable nouns.

 

[DonnyB]

EMP is right: only (C) works as a correct answer here.

(D) "a great deal of..." would have to be followed by an uncountable noun, not a plural.

 

[Andygc]

I think that it is debatable whether "a lot of birds singing" is actually grammatical, but it's certainly idiomatic. In my school days it would have been red-inked, but it is now considered normal. And just a minor change can transform the answer, which is, perhaps, why baab thought D could be correct.

I hear ... birds' singing.

A. a little
B. much
C. a lot of
D. a great deal of

(Although I'm not suggesting that these grammatically correct sentences are all idiomatic English)

 

[baab]

Thank you very much for thoughtful answers.
Actually, I parsed 'singing' as a present participle in that sentence.
birds singing = birds which are singing