{"id":2697,"date":"2018-03-07T08:30:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T14:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2025-11-26T14:47:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:47:38","slug":"tackling-more-tricky-word-choices-another-look-at-number-is-and-number-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/numbers\/tackling-more-tricky-word-choices-another-look-at-number-is-and-number-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Tackling More Tricky Word Choices: Another Look at Number Is <\/em>and Number Are<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently we\u2019ve been reviewing word choices with nuances worthy of noting. Understanding subtleties of meaning and usage makes the instruments in our toolboxes even sharper for precise and eloquent writing.<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019ll look at another English-usage item that can sometimes be tricky even for experienced communicators.<\/p>\n

When using the word\u00a0number<\/em>\u00a0as a collective noun for countable items, which statement would you use?<\/p>\n

A\u00a0number<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>of factors\u00a0is<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>weighing on her decision.<\/p>\n

A number<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of factors\u00a0are<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0weighing on her decision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In\u00a0The Number<\/em>\u00a0vs.\u00a0A Number<\/em><\/a>, we put forth that\u00a0number\u00a0<\/em>with the singular definite article\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0would be followed by a singular verb while\u00a0number<\/em>\u00a0with the singular indefinite article\u00a0a<\/em>\u00a0would prompt a plural verb. Thus, of the examples above, we would use:<\/p>\n

A\u00a0number<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of factors\u00a0are<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0weighing on her decision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This guideline remains useful for subject-verb agreement in writing. At the same time,\u00a0number<\/em> may still pose a greater challenge to agreement than an indefinite pronoun<\/a> such as none<\/em>.\u00a0None<\/em>\u00a0can more easily lend itself to a plural sense (\u201cnot any\u201d) as well as a singular meaning (\u201cnot a single one\u201d). This frees the object of the modifying prepositional phrase to help govern verb usage.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

None<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of my\u00a0co-workers<\/em>\u00a0are<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0going to the seminar. (plural prepositional object, plural verb)<\/p>\n

None<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of the\u00a0team<\/em>\u00a0has<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0reported to spring training yet. (singular prepositional object, singular verb)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What makes\u00a0none<\/em>\u00a0more versatile is its lack of a preceding article. When acting as a subject,\u00a0number<\/em>\u00a0will always require an article, often creating an underlying instinctive sense of quantity. This informed our earlier guideline for subject-verb agreement.<\/p>\n

Depending on your circle of influence, some writers, instructors, and grammarians may insist that\u00a0number<\/em>\u00a0is always a singular collective noun. Technically, their argument would pass inspection, just as our guideline would.<\/p>\n

In the end, the truth comes down to what sounds right to your writer\u2019s ear and whether you want to emphasize a plural or singular image.\u00a0Number<\/em>\u00a0could be singular to you at all times, or it might seem either singular or plural according to its context. If ever you\u2019re in doubt, you can apply our guideline of\u00a0the number <\/em>= singular verb and a number <\/em>=\u00a0plural verb and know your writing is still moving as it should.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently we\u2019ve been reviewing word choices with nuances worthy of noting. Understanding subtleties of meaning and usage makes the instruments in our toolboxes even sharper for precise and eloquent writing. Today we\u2019ll look at another English-usage item that can sometimes be tricky even for experienced communicators. When using the word\u00a0number\u00a0as a collective noun for countable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-numbers","category-singular-vs-plural"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7403,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions\/7403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}