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from the beginning until now...
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:59 pm
by Metamorfose
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
Intuition or linguistics?
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:22 am
by Heath
It seems to me that 'is' would be more appropriate. It sounds better to me intuitively and besides 'the number' is singular.
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:56 pm
by ouyang
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.
or 'total'
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:31 am
by Heath
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?
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:46 pm
by fluffyhamster
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?
A number of confusing issues is/are...
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:30 am
by Heath
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.
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:31 pm
by Stephen Jones
Definitely singular verb here. We're talking about one individual number.
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:54 pm
by fluffyhamster
Thanks for clearing that up, Dr Jones! Succinct as ever!