Verb subject agreement in a two-clause sentence

Question

I would be grateful for advice on the following sentence:

'It is not known how many escape attempts were made, but only a small percentage were successful.'

A friend tells me that the word after 'percentage' should be 'was' because 'percentage' is always singular. However, I think that 'were' is correct because 'escape attempts' is plural. I also think 'percentage' can take a plural verb when it refers to a countable quantity rather than a single portion. My friend, who knows a lot more about grammar than me, says that you can use either 'was' or 'were', but not in the US, which apparently only uses 'was' in such instances. I doubt this, but don't know enough about grammar to know for sure. I'd be grateful for feedback on this and hope someone can explain the relevant rules.

Blue Jay · Accepted Answer

I agree with you. Were refers to escape attempts, which is plural.
I'm not clear why your friend thinks that percentage is always treated as singular in the US. It depends on the context.

Pedantric · Answer

My friend justified her argument by referring me to this website: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/per-cent_1

Percentages (= numbers of per cent) are written in words as twenty-five per cent and in figures as 25%.
If a percentage is used with an uncountable or a singular noun the verb is generally singular: 90% of the land is cultivated.
If the noun is singular but represents a group of people, the verb is singular in North American English but in British English it may be singular or plural: Eighty per cent of the work force is/are against the strike.
If the noun is plural, the verb is plural:65% of children play computer games.

Her argument is that by using the American 'singular' (i.e. 'was' in my example), I will be correct both sides of the Atlantic as the singular verb is mandatory in the US and discretionary in the UK. She thinks that the rules of grammar are on her side. I'm doubtful and think there must be a grammatical rule that trumps the one given above, at least for my 'escape attempts' example. But what is it?

Blue Jay · Answer

She's arguing a different point. In American English, a group of individuals is treated as a single entity. For instance:
The team is doing well this season.
In British English a group is often treated as a number of individuals:
The team are doing well this season.

This has nothing to do with how percentages are viewed. With a percentage, you consider the object of the preposition (of being the preposition, the noun that follows normally being the object), or what would be the object if the whole thing were spelled out, and match the verb to the object:
A small percentage of the widgets were defective. (plural object, plural verb)
A small percentage of the milk was thrown away. (singular object and verb)
Even if you turn it into two clauses, it still works the same way.
We checked all the widgets. A small percentage were defective. (of the widgets implied)
We couldn't use all the milk. A small percentage was thrown away.(of the milk implied)

Blue Jay · Answer

I missed this line in your post:

PedantricIf the noun is plural, the verb is plural:65% of children play computer games.

There's your answer from her source.

CalifJim · Answer

Sentence:
It is not known how many escape attempts were made, but only a small percentage were successful.

This sentence contains an elision of "of escape attempts" in the second clause, so that elision should be restored first, so we can see what is really being said, what is really intended. Thus:

It is not known how many escape attempts were made, but only a small percentage of escape attempts were successful.

PedantricIf a percentage is used with an uncountable or a singular noun the verb is generally singular: 90% of the land is cultivated.

'attempts' is not singular, so this rule is irrelevant.

PedantricIf the noun is singular but represents a group of people, the verb is singular in North American English but in British English it may be singular or plural: Eighty per cent of the work force is/are against the strike.

And again. 'attempts' is not singular, so this rule is irrelevant. This is the only rule that mentions differences between BrE and AmE, and it doesn't apply, so that difference is also irrelevant.

PedantricIf the noun is plural, the verb is plural: 65% of children play computer games.

"attempts" is the noun in question. It is plural. Therefore the verb must be plural.

According to this rule you cannot write: a small percentage of escape attempts was successful
Therefore you cannot write: a small percentage was successful when its meaning is a small percentage of escape attempts was successful.

In short, your original sentence is correct as it stands.

CJ

Edit: BlueJay's answers were not showing when I started working on this reply. We're both saying the same thing.

Verb subject agreement in a two-clause sentence

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