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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
A number of
"Although the expression‘a number’ is strictly singular, the phrase ‘a number of’' is used with plural nouns (as whatgrammarians call a determiner (or determiner)). The verb should therefore be plural:
A number of people are waiting for the bus.
This is not the case with ‘the number’, which is still singular:
The number of people here has increased since this morning." (From https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/number-of-people-is-or-are)
Why is "a number of" a determiner but "the number of" not?
A number of people are waiting for the bus.
This is not the case with ‘the number’, which is still singular:
The number of people here has increased since this morning." (From https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/number-of-people-is-or-are)
Why is "a number of" a determiner but "the number of" not?
Top answer
Anonymous Why is "a number of" a determiner but "the number of" not? It is one of the oddities of the language—and a favorite testing point for language proficiency tests.
- Anonymous Why is "a number of" a determiner but "the number of" not?
- It is one of the oddities of the language—and a favorite testing point for language proficiency tests.
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2 Answers
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AnonymousWhy is "a number of" a determiner but "the number of" not?It is one of the oddities of the language—and a favorite testing point for language proficiency tests.
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Mister MicawberIt is one of the oddities of the languageThank you for the reply.
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