a plurality of +V.

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00It seems an awkward word choice here, and I would avoid it except for its more standard uses (as in vote counting). However, I suppose that where it means 'a number of' it would take a plural verb, and where it means 'the number of', it would take a singular verb. 0-

0Thanks for the suggestion. This word is a standard term in patent claim, it says two or more objects. Thus suppose you claim "a car comprising a plurality of doors", any car in the world with two or more doors would infringe your patent! I'm just suddenly lost in whether to use sg. or pl. verb if "a plurality of doors" is used as a subject.0-

0The "pinettes" should be "pincettes"!0-

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00Cars are more than just a bunch of doors, so they can hardly 'comprise doors' of any quantity. I would be brave, strike a blow for honest English, and write 'a car having two or more doors'. Why the verbosity of 'plurality' when you are using 'cars' rather than 'vehicular conveyances'? 0-

0Well, you are absolutely right. I was just making an example. However, the term "a plurality of" has a defining use and it has legal implication in the patent system. I'm just trying to understand if it abides English grammar as you know some legal usage is really weird.0-

I also met the same problem you. I used to use "a plurality of cars are...." but the WORD tells me it should be "a plurality of cars is...." I'm confused...

I was wondering about the same question. I think I found the answer below. Although it is describing the word majority, I think it applied to "plurality"http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/azar/grammar_ex/message_board/archive/articles/00019.htmThe above site says:The American Herita

A plurality of cars are..." is not grammatically correct because the true subject of the sentence is singular.

AnonymousA plurality of cars are..." is not grammatically correct because the true subject of the sentence is singular.

The problem with your analysis is that in real English, native speakers often use notional or proximal concord, not grammatical concord. Here in particular, no native speaker is thinking about 'a plurality' as any sort of useful singular nou