Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[puzzle]

Dear teachers,
Can you tell me whether the verbs should be singular or plural when quantity is used. eg.
A large quntity of books( is,are) sent to the school.

Thank you very much!

[CP]

In constructions like this, the way to tell whether the verb should be singular or plural is to ignore "of X":

A large quantity . . . is sent to the school.

A team of experts is expected to tackle the problem.

Several gallons of rum were destroyed in the raid.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Tao]

The point is, look at the subject of the sentence not the prepositional phrase to determine the correct verb usage.
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TAO

[lotus]

The question should be:

A large quantity of books (was, were) sent to the school.

Both are correct depending on what rule you invoke:

A large quantity of books was sent to the school. (subject-verb agreement)

A large quantity of books were sent to the school. (apposition agreement)

The second one sounds more natural and you will hear it more often that way. That doesn't mean it's correct. It just means it is more common in everyday usage.

An alternate explanation:
Note the administrator's response.
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/47060-quantity-plural-singular.html

My preference is:
A lot of books were sent to the school.


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[Tao]

lotus, I'm curious as to what you consider the appositives here�??

Can't say I'm familiar with apposition agreement rules; can you enlighten me?
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TAO

[lotus]

It just means the proximity of the noun to the linking verb. It is not an appositive, it is in apposition.

Because of the proximity of books to were, it is in agreement.


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[Tao]

however, it's the subject that determines the verb not the object of the preposition. I still have never encountered a grammatical rule that says anything different. That's the point of the s/v guideline�to avoid usage errors by focusing on the noun closest to the verb.
be well...
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TAO