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Joe Huang Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Should "a variety of things" be deemed singular or plural?
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary says: "There is a wide variety of patterns to choose from."
(http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/variety )
However, Dictionary.com says: "As a collective noun, variety, when preceded by a, is often treated as a plural: A variety of inexpensive goods are sold here."
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/variety )
In fact, either way is used by native speakers as we can find in a variety of news reports.
When should "a variety of things" be considered singular? When should "a variety of things" be considered plural? Does it have something to do with the difference between American English and British English? Or is it one of the remaining controversial grammatical issues yet to be resolved?
(http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/variety )
However, Dictionary.com says: "As a collective noun, variety, when preceded by a, is often treated as a plural: A variety of inexpensive goods are sold here."
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/variety )
In fact, either way is used by native speakers as we can find in a variety of news reports.
When should "a variety of things" be considered singular? When should "a variety of things" be considered plural? Does it have something to do with the difference between American English and British English? Or is it one of the remaining controversial grammatical issues yet to be resolved?
Top answer
Joe Huang When should "a variety of things" be considered singular? When should "a variety of things" be considered plural? variety is singular; things is plural.
- Joe Huang When should "a variety of things" be considered singular?
- When should "a variety of things" be considered plural?
- variety is singular; things is plural.
- That's why people have a hard time deciding what verb form goes with a variety of things .
- In some expressions like this the preference is for agreement with the noun before of .
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1 Answers
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Joe HuangWhen should "a variety of things" be considered singular? When should "a variety of things" be considered plural?variety is singular; things is plural. That's why people have a hard time deciding what verb form goes with a variety of things.
In some expressions like this the preference is for agreement with the noun bef
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