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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Plural or singular?

"There is an unprecedented number of opportunities."
"There are an unprecedented number of opportunities."
  

Top answer

'There is an unprecedented number. '

— Rover_KE

  • 'There is an unprecedented number.
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4 Answers
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'There is an unprecedented number. . .'
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Anonymous"There is an unprecedented number of opportunities.""There are an unprecedented number of opportunities."
There are an unprecedented number of opportunities.

a number of takes the plural.
the number of takes the singular.

A number of people have gathered in the streets to celebrate.
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Rover_KE'There is an unprecedented number. . .'
You can't say *There is an unprecedented number of opportunities. The meaning of the quantificational noun number when used with the determiner an is imprecise, so the embedded noun opportunities must be plural, and likewise the form of the verb. So it should be:
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