is or are involved

HifaMo"the practical organization that is needed to make a complicated plan successful when a lot of people and equipment is involved"Shouldn't it be "are involved"?

Your inquiry is reasonable to me. However, research result seemed to indicate that different sites use almost identical wording with "is". Maybe CJ can shed some light on it.

"a lot of people are", "a lot of equipment is". In conflicting cases like this, it is common to match the verb with the nearest noun, which is what has been done here.

GPY"a lot of people are", "a lot of equipment is". In conflicting cases like this, it is common to match the verb with the nearest noun, which is what has been done here...you may also 'highlight' a part of the text and press 'Quote'Attach imagesRecord Your VoiceOnly writ

A lot of - in American English is understood as singular most of the time. However, there

Thanks for your replies.

I agree with grammarfreak's view.

I think the rule of matching the verb with the nearest noun applies when 'or' is used not 'and'.

"a lot of X and Y" is commonly treated as grammatically singular if X and Y are uncountable nouns, or as plural if X and Y are plural nouns. For example, phrases such as "a lot of care and attention" or "a lot of manpower and equipment" are commonly treated as singular, while "a lot of people and vehicles" is plural. "a lot of people and equipment" is a mixed case. Therefore, probably the "best th

GPY Therefore, probably the "best that can be done" is to match the verb to the nearest noun.

With due respect, I am still not convinced with this explanation. If the rules of grammar are constant, the particular formation of " a lot of people and equipment is..." seems wrong to me despite the fact that many websites

grammarfreak" a lot of equipment and a lot of people are .....". Don't you think ?

Well, that's OK, but you've changed the question by repeating "a lot of". However, you could say "a lot of equipment and people are ...". I would not say that "a lot of people and equipment are ..." is glaringly wrong though.

GPY..". I would not say that "a lot of people and equipment are ..." is glaringly wrong though.

Sir,
Sorry, I beg to differ.
That is why I said if the rules of grammar should be constant, the singular and plural must apply the same.
Let's use a different subjects for a change: My cousins and

You did notice that I said "I would not say that 'a lot of people and equipment are ...' is glaringly wrong"?

There is no suggestion that "X and Y" generally is singular. However, in the case of X and Y being uncountable nouns, "a lot of X and Y" may be viewed as grouping the two things together, so there is a greater tendency to treat the phrase as singular. For example, we

Hi GPY,
I think we said enough to try to get our points across. If you would kindly comment on my last example about my cousin and my brother Paul, I'd appreciate it. I am still going at this debate because I see inconsistency in the way we apply the rules. If my example is correct, then "people and equipment is involved " can't be right. That's all I can say.