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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
Subject-verb
Hi
Please let me know the correct form of subject-verb agreement to be followed in the following sentence:
"An even larger number of steps is employed in the following production stage."
Thanks for your help in this regard
Elango P.P.
Please let me know the correct form of subject-verb agreement to be followed in the following sentence:
"An even larger number of steps is employed in the following production stage."
Thanks for your help in this regard
Elango P.P.
Top answer
The phrase “ the number” is treated as singular ; “ a number ” is treated as plural. The number of students has increased this semester ( number here expresses the idea of a single entity, or a unit) A number of workers are on strike this year . ( number here expresses the idea of many individual workers) In your example, the verb should be written in plural An even larger number of steps are employed in the following production stage
- The phrase “ the number” is treated as singular ; “ a number ” is treated as plural.
- The number of students has increased this semester ( number here expresses the idea of a single entity, or a unit) A number of workers are on strike this year .
- ( number here expresses the idea of many individual workers) In your example, the verb should be written in plural An even larger number of steps are employed in the following production stage
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2 Answers
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The phrase “the number” is treated as singular; “a number” is treated as plural.
The number of students has increased this semester (number here expresses the idea of a single entity, or a unit)
A number of workers are on strike this year. (number here expresses the idea of many individual wor
The number of students has increased this semester (number here expresses the idea of a single entity, or a unit)
A number of workers are on strike this year. (number here expresses the idea of many individual wor
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This is correct, although it may seem wrong. The subject is "number," and is singular. Therefore, "is" is the proper tense. One way to help identify the proper tense is the article "an" used to start the sentence. "An" obviously indicates the singular. It just looks strange because of the prepositional phrase which includes a plural.
If the sentence is reworded slightly, you
If the sentence is reworded slightly, you
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