Search results for 'tag:Plural subject tag:Numbers' matching tags 'Plural subject' and 'Numbers'

Re: was or were?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:30:26 GMT

Since "pictures" are countable objects, it's better to say "a significant number." This is treated as a plural subject, and the verb should be "were":

A significant number of these pictures were taken at the museum.

Use "amount" for something that has quantity, but is not counted as individual objects. If "amount" is the subject, then "was" is the correct verb, as you say. For example:

A significant amount of money was missing from my bank account.

I hope this helps!

Re: a large number has / have

Ouc — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 18:36:57 GMT

Number. Like other collective nouns number may take either a singular or a plural verb. Unlike most of them, it admits of a simple and logical rule. When all that it is doing is forming part of a composite plural subject, it should have a plural verb, as in:

A large number of people are coming today.

But when it is standing on its own legs as the subject it should have a singular verb, as in:

The number of people coming today is large.

The following are accordingly unidiomatic:

There is a number of applications, some of which were made before yours.
There is a large number of outstanding orders.

The true subjects are not "a number" and "a large number" but "a-number-of-applications" and "a-large-number-of-outstanding orders".

Of the following examples the first has a singular verb that should be plural and the second a plural verb that should be singular.

There ~~was~~ also a number of conferences calling themselves peace conferences which had no real interest in peace.
The number of casualties in H.M.S. Amethyst ~~are~~ is thought to be about fifteen.

Those kind of things. The use of the plural these or those with the singular kind or so

FromTroubles With Number http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/gowerse/complete/chap904.htm

Re: a couple of

Mythical Lady — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:52:12 GMT

Hi Yoong Liat,

In English. there are some things, I find, senseless!!

Or how can you jusify that we deal with"a number of..." as if it is a plural subject while we deal with "the number of..." as a singular subject?? (at least that what I've studied) "a number of" means several what about "the number of" doesn't it have the same sense??

Thanks anyway..

Re: Across the road there is (are?) a store and a fire hall

Kenny Dorham — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 19:09:22 GMT

The question here concerns subject-verb agreement. Almost always the the verb agrees with the subject in number. We say "Homer rides into town" and "John and Homer ride into town." In the first sentence the 3rd person singular verb "rides" agrees with the singular subject "Homer," and in the second sentence the plural verb "ride" agrees with the plural subject "John and Homer." So far, so good.
Often, however, the expletive "there" is used to fill up the space in which we usually expect to find the subject. Lookfar's sentence "Ther [sic] is a list of things; there are things on the list" is an example. The first "there" is followed by the singular verb "is" and then the singular subject "list" and the second "there" is followed by the plural verb "are" and the plural subject "things." Subject-verb agreement all around.
But when using a expletive, complications arise if the subject that follows the verb is compound and the first subject is singular. This is the case in the original sentence "Across the road there is (are?) a store and a fire hall." There is no doubt that the subject is plural ("a store and a fire hall") and that "Across the road there are a store and a fire house" would, certainly by a vast majority of English teachers, be considered correct. The problem is that "there are a store" sounds a little strange. No worries, though, because before we have time to ponder this possible problem we get our second subject ("a fire hall").
Consider this sentence, though: "There are John, whom I haven't seen in years, and Fred, my once-best friend, sitting on a park bench." Or, "There are a dog with a clipped tail and a scruffy cat on my lawn." There is no question that the subject in both sentences is plural, but "There are John" and There are a dog" offend the ear. In this case, for what it is worth, I believe it is acceptable to make the verb agree with the following subject.

Kenny Dorham

Re: "There/Here is" with plural subject allowed?

eagle2l84 — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 22:56:53 GMT

Hi,

it's me, Ralf, the starter of this thread. Thanks for your answers so far. A post in another thread pointed me to the "American Heritage - Book of English Usage", where I found this section:

According to the standard rule, when the pronoun there precedes a verb such as be, seem, or appear, the verb agrees in number with the following grammatical subject: There is a great Italian deli across the street. There are fabulous wildflowers in the hills. There seems to be a blueberry pie cooking in the kitchen. There seem to be a few trees between the green and me. But people often disregard this rule and use a singular verb with a plural subject, especially when speaking or when using the contraction thereâs. The Usage Panel dislikes this construction, however. Seventy-nine percent reject the sentence Thereâs only three things you need to know about this book. But when thereâs is followed by a compound subject whose first element is singular, the panel feels differently. Fifty-six percent of the Usage Panel accepts the sentence In each of us thereâs a dreamer and a realist, and 32 percent more accept it in informal usage. The panel is even more accepting of the sentence When you get to the stop light, thereâs a gas station on the left and a grocery store on the right; 58 percent accept it in formal usage, while 37 percent more accept it in informal usage. Although this usage would seem to violate the rules of subject and verb agreement, the attraction of the verb to the singular noun phrase following it is so strong that it is hard to avoid the construction entirely.

While this clarifies the usage for AmE, I still wonder how it used around the world.

Hoping for more to come,

cu

Re: "There/Here is" with plural subject allowed?

Mister Micawber — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 00:32:43 GMT

Hi Ralf,

You are both correct. They are still considered ungrammatical by many, and you would be wise to avoid them in careful writing; but the fact remains that the use of 'here/there is' (usually as 'here's/there's') with plural nouns is extremely common-- and acceptable-- informally. I use them myself frequently when I speak.

My feeling is that the reason is primarily one of pronunciation: 'there/here are' is difficult to clearly enunciate-- /h:r?r/ etc. We do not have the same anomaly in the case of 'this is / these are', which always agree with the number of their nouns.

Re: One and one

CalifJim — Wed, 15 Sep 2004 07:13:46 GMT

When it comes to mathematical equality, the underlying idea is that one quantity equals another.

4 + 5 + 1 = 10

(The quantity) four plus five plus one equals (the quantity) ten.
Four and five and one equals ten.

One and one is two.

From a strict grammatical point of view, a plural subject (one and one) requires a plural verb (equal or are), but many people feel more a sense that the unstated word "quantity" is the subject and so requires a singular verb.

In short, either one, in my opinion, is acceptable.

If the context is completely mathematical the equal sign (=) is normally read "equals", no matter what numbers or mathematical expressions are to the right or the left of the equal sign.

Search results for 'tag:Plural subject tag:Numbers' matching tags 'Plural subject' and 'Numbers'

Re: was or were?

Re: a large number has / have

Re: a couple of

Re: Across the road there is (are?) a store and a fire hall

Re: "There/Here is" with plural subject allowed?

Re: &quot;There/Here is&quot; with plural subject allowed?

Re: One and one

Re: "There/Here is" with plural subject allowed?