By Expressions, Singular verbs

I'd say 'all' can only be followed by a singular verb when the meaning of 'all' is 'everything' -- and that is probably limited to well-known expressions most of the time:All is (not) lost.All is forgiven.All is fair in love and war.All's well that ends well.All is calm, all is bright.

There is no difference in the agreement rules whether you use "a majority of" or "the majority of". These expressions are almost always followed by a plural noun and a plural verb, thus: The majority of Americans believe ... A majority of Brazilians say ... The majority of students think...

How about : "Neither he nor she drinks" or "Neither he nor she drink" ??? Marco wrote:I tought we should use neither/nor with a singular verb when both of the subjects are singular: Neither he nor she is happy. Quote from the OED: d. With two sing. subjects and pl. verb. 1759 Johnson Idler...

How about : "Neither he nor she drinks" or "Neither he nor she drink" ??? Marco wrote:I tought we should use neither/nor with a singular verb when both of the subjects are singular: Neither he nor she is happy. Quote from the OED: d. With two sing. subjects and pl. verb. 1759 Johnson Idler...

Both are fine. Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say:USAGE NOTE: Every is representative of a large class of English words and expressions that are singular in form but felt to be plural in sense. The class includes, for example, noun phrases introduced by every, any, and...

Let me quote from 'Fowler's Modern English Usage'. The expression a number of + plural noun as in a number of people NORMALLY takes a plural verb in both BrE and AmE, because the plural noun is regarded as the 'head' of the noun phrase and therefore as the real subject: A number of books by...

Well guys, looks like every one here goes witha singular verb but American Heritage says it should be have. Actually I saw this sentence in Americam Heritage but couldn't figure out why is it so. Following is the passage; Every is representative of a large class of English words and...

The rule for numerical expressions is that; if they are considered collectively then a singular verb would be used otherwise a plural verb would be used.Fifty percent of the students been expelled. Here the act of expelling is a collective action so i think has should be used but i want to...

"In view of Mr. P's intervening post, maybe we need to amend the "always"???"We'll just have to do that. I didn't know professional writers had used a plural verb with neither. Of course, we can disagree with the OED if we want to, can't we? I don't think I'll do that, though. Live and let...

1. Use of present perfect tense and simple past tense Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of British English. In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense as an alternative in...