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The Number vs A Number

The expression the number is followed by a singular verb while the expression a number is followed by a plural verb.

Examples:

The number of people we need to hire is thirteen.

A number of people have written in about this subject.

Read more…

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Posted on Thursday, December 9th, 2010, at 9:01 am

Subject and Verb Agreement with Collective Nouns

Do you use a singular or plural verb to match a collective noun such as team or staff? The answer is, “It depends.” If these nouns are acting as a unit, use a singular verb.

Example: The team is heading for practice this afternoon.

If the sentence indicates more individuality, use a plural verb.

Example: The team are eating with their families tonight.

Would you choose is or are in the example below?

Example (an actual headline from CNN.com): Nearly one in four people worldwide is/are Muslim.

People is NOT a collective noun like team or staff. It is a plural noun. However, the subject is one, which is singular and takes a singular verb. So the answer is is. In the above sentence, the prepositional phrase is in four people. This means that people is the object of the preposition.

Let’s get real here, however: The intention in this headline is to let us know that nearly 25% of the world’s population is Muslim. That intention gets lost by focusing on one is. It might be better to reword the sentence: Nearly 25% of people in the world are Muslim.

Why is 25% of people are correct? The subject of this sentence is 25%. Fractions and percentages, like team and staff, can be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition following. In this case people is the object of the preposition of. We have already said that people is plural. Therefore, 25% becomes plural in meaning.

Example: Twelve percent of the list has/have volunteered to help with the fundraising.

The subject is twelve percent, which will be either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition that follows. In this sentence, the object of the preposition is list, which is always singular. So the correct answer is has.

To learn more about subject and verb agreement, click here.

Ready to challenge yourself?

Pop Quiz

1. The team is/are headed to the nationals since winning the state finals.

2. The mock trial team was/were happy with their presentations to the judge.

3. Nearly 25% of the population is/are Muslim.

4. Our staff meets/meet on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.

5. Our staff works/work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.

Pop Quiz Answers

1. The team is headed to the nationals since winning the state finals.
Team is being used as a cohesive unit so a singular verb is required.

2. The mock trial team were happy with their presentations to the judge.
Team is plural because separate presentations were given. Also, when the plural their is used, the implication is that the collective noun is being used as a plural.

3. Nearly 25% of the population is Muslim.
The word population is a collective noun that can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the intention of the author. The intention here is to indicate that this percentage represents a single group.

4. Our staff meets on Tuesday mornings to discuss customer complaints.
Staff, a collective noun, is acting as a single unit in this sentence.

5. Our staff work hard to meet their goals and deadlines.
Their is a clue that staff is not acting as a unit. Therefore, the plural work is needed.

How do you know that work, not works, is plural? Think about which word you would use with he and which word you would use with they.

Examples:
She works too hard for her age.
They work harder when the foreman is around.

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Posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010, at 2:47 pm

Plurals of Symbols

You don’t need to use an apostrophe to show the plurals of symbols.

Examples: #s 1, 2, and 3 (numbers 1, 2, and 3)
$s, not €s (dollars, not euros)

For information on apostrophes with numbers, dates, and letters, click here.

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Posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010, at 4:27 pm

“None Were” vs. “None Was”

Rule: With words that indicate portions–some, all, none, percent, fraction, part, majority, remainder, and so forth –look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb.

Examples:
None of the pie was eaten.
None of the children were hungry.

In a sentence like “None were missing,” there is an implicit noun that answers the question, “None of what?” That noun is what determines whether none takes a plural or singular verb.

Examples:
None were missing. (None of the cookies were missing.)
None was missing. (None of the pie was missing.)

Note: Apparently, the SAT testing service considers none as a singular word only. However, according to Merriam
Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, “Clearly none has been both singular and plural since Old English and still is. The notion that it is singular only is a myth of unknown origin that appears to have arisen in the 19th century. If in context it seems like a singular to you, use a singular verb; if it seems like a plural, use a plural verb. Both are acceptable beyond serious criticism” (p. 664)

Pop Quiz

  1. None of the garbage was/were picked up.
  2. None of the chairs was/were comfortable.
  3. She inspected all of the plates and none was/were chipped.

Answers

  1. None of the garbage was picked up.
  2. None of the chairs were comfortable.
  3. She inspected all of the plates and none were chipped.

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Posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009, at 2:15 pm

Irregular Plurals

Many nouns in English have a plural form either with an s/es ending or without. For example, when is it correct to use youth vs. youths, fish vs. fishes, or hair vs. hairs?

Use youths and hairs when countable.
Example: Three youths were given awards for community service.

If youth is being used collectively, do not add the s.

Example: The youth of today watch less TV but spend more time on the computer.

When youth is used as a collective noun, you may follow it with either a singular or plural verb. I chose the plural verbs watch and spend because I felt that we were using youth in a plural manner here.

Examples: The hairs on her chin were long.
Her hair is long.

The words fish and fishes are interchangeable although some references say to use fishes when referring to two or more species.

Examples: This fish is huge.
These barracuda fish are huge.
All the barracuda fish in the reef are enormous.
The fishes in the reef are colorful. (indicating two or more species)

Some nouns do not change at all in their plural form.

Examples: sheep, deer, offspring, series, species

Other nouns have plural forms that do not involve adding an s.

Examples: alumnus/alumni, radius/radii, child/children, woman/women, foot/feet, goose/geese, tooth/teeth, vertebra/vertebrae, mouse/mice

To confuse us even more, some nouns change their is ending in the singular to an es ending in the plural.

Examples: parenthesis/parentheses, paralysis/paralyses, diagnosis/diagnoses

Is there a simple way to know the plural of a noun? Only if you’re psychic. The rest of us are stuck with having to rely on the dictionary.


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Posted on Saturday, April 5th, 2008, at 12:32 am

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