There is/are a total

0 01blockquote

01cite10Yoong Liat12cite10There 11b10is / are 12b10a total of five cars.12br
10Should it be 'is' or 'are'?12br
12br
10Thanks in advance.12br
12blockquote

10subject = 01b00total02b00 = is0-

0 01blockquote

01cite10Feebs1112cite11blockquote

11cite20Yoong Liat22cite20There 21b20is / are 22b20a total of five cars.22br
20Should it be 'is' or 'are'?22br
22br
20Thanks in advance.22br
22blockquote

20subject = 11b10

0 The subject is still "a total". 02br
02br
00I think colloquially in spoken English you will hear the plural in these kinds of sentences - A total of five cars were stolen - but grammatically it is incorrect.0-

0 I think the proximity rules in this case, thus it depends on the order. 0-

0 Hi Yoong,02br
00I took a look at the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, and at "total" there is this example:02br
01b00A total of thirteen meetings were held to discuss the issue.02b02br
02br
00I think you can use either a singual of plural verb, generally speaking. I think I'd treat "total" the same way as "group":02br

0 Hi Kooyeen02br
02br
00I agree with you.02br
02br
00Thanks for your effort.0-

You are absolutely correct!
Thanks sooo much

but Microsoft word suggests "There are a total of 100 ...".

Never rely on Microsoft for your grammar.

Microsoft's wrong much of the time, but in this case not so. Total is not the subject of the sentence, cars is. The phrase "a total of" is modifying, or qualifying, the subject cars. Quick test: Does it still convey your meaning if you take out "a total of?" There are five cars. Yep, meaning's still there. What if you take out cars? There is a total of five.