Subject confusion

Question

The following sentence is grammatically incorrect:
"There is still an astonishing number of young adults who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis."

Apparently, the "is" is supposed to be "are." This implies that "adults" is the subject. However, I intuitively want to say that "number" is the subject. Why is this not the case?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
The following sentence is grammatically incorrect:
"There is still an astonishing number of young adults who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis."

Apparently, the "is" is supposed to be "are." This implies that "adults" is the subject. However, I intuitively want to say that "number" is the subject. Why is this not the case?
The word 'who' relates the subordinate clause to people, ie 'adults'.

Clive

MintPastille · Answer

I'm not quite sure I'm getting it. Isn't the whole sentence an independent clause?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

"There is still an astonishing number of young adults <<<<< main clause

who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis." <<<< subordinate (adjectival) clause

Clive

BillJ · Answer

CliveHi,

"There is still an astonishing number of young adults <<<<< main clause

who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis." <<<< subordinate (adjectival) clause

Clive

I see the main clause here as being the matrix clause "There is still an astonishing number of young adults who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis" which happens to be co-extensive with the whole sentence. The relative clause "who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis" is a subordinate clause embedded in the main clause.

BillJ

BillJ · Answer

MintPastilleI'm not quite sure I'm getting it. Isn't the whole sentence an independent clause?

Yes it is. There is no other main (independent) clause in the sentence. The entire sentence, as you say, is the main clause.

BillJ

CalifJim · Answer

MintPastilleApparently, the "is" is supposed to be "are." This implies that "adults" is the subject. However, I intuitively want to say that "number" is the subject.

Right. "is" is supposed to be "are". In a there construction the subject (for purposes of subject-verb agreement) comes after the verb (is / are / ...).

There is a car blocking the driveway.
There are two cars blocking the driveway.

I think you're clear on that.
____________

Nevertheless, there are quite a few expressions in the form X of Y in which X heads the phrase, but Y is used for purposes of agreement. Some of these are:

the rest of the Y, most of the Y, a number of Y

The rest of the soup is cold. / The rest of the letters are here.
Most of the meat is spoiled. / Most of the apples were good.
--- no singular usage --- / A number of players are already on the field.
/ An astonishing number of young adults are known to smoke.

So in the there construction, you have:

There are a number of players already on the field.
There are still an astonishing number of young adults who ....

Don't let the number of intervening words distract you. The agreement is still between are and adults regardless of those words in between.

CJ

BillJ · Answer

MintPastilleThe following sentence is grammatically incorrect:
"There is still an astonishing number of young adults who are smoking cigarettes on a daily basis."

Apparently, the "is" is supposed to be "are." This implies that "adults" is the subject. However, I intuitively want to say that "number" is the subject. Why is this not the case?

The key to the first part of your question lies in the word "number". "Number" is a quantificational noun acting as head of the noun phrase "an astonishing number of young adults ...". The meaning of "number" is always plural, hence the plural embedded noun phrase "young adults who are smoking ..." (you can't say "number of young adult ..."). It's this plural interpretation of "number" that determines not only the plural "are" in the relative clause, but also the plural "are" in the main clause.

Regarding the subject of the main clause - in an existential clause like this, the dummy pronoun "there" is actually the subject. "Number (of young adults ...)" may seem like the subject, but in fact it's a 'displaced subject' - a displaced subject is not actually a kind of subject, but a phrase that corresponds to the subject of a grammatically more basic construction.

Does that seem a reasonable explanation?

BillJ

MintPastille · Answer

Thanks BillJ, I understand it now.

Subject confusion

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