from the beginning until now...

Metamorfose · Post by **Metamorfose** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:59 pm

What do you think of the use of are here, is that ok?

"Last year the number of houses that were robbed increased about 45%. From the beggining of this year until now the number of robbed houses are 450 , 30% higer than last year..."

Thanks

José

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:22 am

It seems to me that 'is' would be more appropriate. It sounds better to me intuitively and besides 'the number' is singular.

ouyang · Post by **ouyang** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:56 pm

Usually the article that precedes the collective nouns "number" and "majority" determines whether they are plural or singular.

"A number of people are here. The number of people has decreased."

So, I agree with Heath. The singular "is" form would be more appropriate for your sentence.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:31 am

I've been thinking about it... and I think an even better verb to use would be: 'totals'.

"From the beginning of this year until now the number of robbed houses totals 450."

Grammar vs lexis?

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:46 pm

I was toying with 'totals' myself, but decided not to post, because I wasn't sure if 'The number of robbed houses total 450' was "impossible". Has we come full circle?

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:30 am

John Eastwood, "Oxford Guide to English Grammar":

"When a plural noun follows number of, majority of or a lot of, we normally use a plural verb.
A large number of letters were received.
The majority of people have complained.
A lot of people have complained.
Here a number of etc expresses a quantity.
NOTE
a When number means 'figure', it agrees with the verb.
The number of letters we receive is increasing."

I guess we can infer from "we normally use a plural verb" that data shows both are possible when talking about a 'quantity' (ie. a lot of, a large number of, etc).

Either way in "the number of houses that were robbed" it seems to be a figure (eg. "the 300 houses that were robbed" as opposed to "a lot of houses that were robbed"), so according to Eastwood, at least, 'the number' needs to agree with the verb.

My vote's for "totals"... but I'm still not 100% sure.

Stephen Jones · Post by **Stephen Jones** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:31 pm

Definitely singular verb here. We're talking about one individual number.

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:54 pm

Thanks for clearing that up, Dr Jones! Succinct as ever!

Teacher Discussion Forums

from the beginning until now...

from the beginning until now...

Intuition or linguistics?

or 'total'

A number of confusing issues is/are...