Part of

Question

Hello, teachers!

Would you please tell me which is the correct agreement? Or is there any other proper expression?
- Part of your medical bills is/are paid by the insurance company.

Thank you very much.
Peace!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

This is a slightly tricky one, Jandi-- at least for me. 'Part' is a singular noun, so should require the singular 'is'-- however, we are talking of a part of all of the bills, so it is actually several parts (as many parts as there are bills), and logic asks me to use 'are' in this sentence. The result is that I cannot see either as clearly correct here.

The escape is of course to re-phase in order to avoid the anomaly, to something like:

'A part of each of your medical bills is paid by the insurance company.'
'Parts of your medical bills are paid by the insurance company.'

CalifJim · Answer

I think "part" is an incorrect word choice.
"part of" is followed by a singular noun, because it is part of a whole.
It seems to me that the 'plural' form is "some of".
I use 'plural' advisedly because I mean that "some of" is the form to use before a plural.

Part of the problem is that John lacks confidence.
Parts of the apple were already turning brown.

Some of the employees are angry about the situation.
Some of your medical bills are paid by the insurance company.

The meaning of your original sentence is not the same as the last sentence above, however.
I believe the intention of the original sentence is better expressed by one of the following.

A portion of your medical bills is paid by the insurance company.
A portion of each of your medical bills is paid by the insurance company.
A percentage of (each of) your medical bills is paid by the insurance company.

An attempt · Answer

It might be also rephrased as
“Your medical bills are partly paid by the insurance company”,
to avoid the difficulty.

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