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TheGrammarofNumbers
Twoplustwoisfour,right?Well,themoreyouknowaboutlanguage,themoreyoumightwonderaboutthat
basicequation.Maybetwoplustwoisfour,butthenagain,maybetwoplustwoarefour.

Whetheryoureanaceorairheadwhenitcomestomath,youvenodoubtstruggledwithgrammarand
numbersatsomepoint.Quantities,fractions,slipperywordsliketotalandmajority,teamandstaffits
sometimeshardtotellwhetherathingissingularorplural.

Quantities
OneofthemostcommonnumberquestionsIgetinmygrammarworkshopsconcernswhethercollectivenouns
suchastotal,numberandmajorityaresingularorplural.Theanswer(notnecessarilywhatparticipantswant
tohear)is,itdepends.Itdependsonwhetherthenounreferstoasingleentityortopluralitemsand,often,on
whetherthenounisprecededbyaorthe.

Taketotal,numberandrange,forinstance.Whenprecededbya,thesenounsusuallyteamupwithaplural
constructionandaretreatedasplural.Whenprecededbythe,theyrefertoasingleentityandaresingular.

Atotalof82dancershavesignedupforthechachacompetition.
Thetotalhasexceededourexpectations.
AnumberofadolescentsarewearingmidriffbaringTshirtsthissummer.
ThenumberofadolescentswearingmidriffbaringTshirtsthissummerishigherthanever.
Arangeofhomemadejams,jelliesandchutneysareforsaleatthisyearscraftfair.
Therangeofproductsforsaleatthefairisstaggering.

Ithelpstorealizethatwhenwecombinesuchnounswitha,wecreatefamiliarexpressionsthatareoften
synonymouswithsome,manyornumerousandarethereforeplural.Thisrealizationcanhelpwithother
words,suchasbunchandcouple,whosenumberisdeterminedmorebytheirsensethanbythepreceding
article.

Abunchofusareheadedtothedriveinfortonightsdoublefeature.(abunchmeanssome)
Abunchofbananasislessexpensive,butalsolessromantic,thanabouquetofflowers.(abunchrefersto
asingleentity)
Acoupleofdogsarepeeingonmylawn.(acouplemeanstwo)
AcoupleisentitledtoaValentinesdiscountwiththisvacationcompany.(acouplereferstoasingleentity)

Majorityismuchlikebunchandcouple.Whenitreferstoaplural(whichitusuallydoes),itsplural,butwhenit
referstoasingleentity,itssingular.

Amajorityofvotersinthereferendumhavechosentodestroytheirballots.(amajoritymeansmostof
them)
ThemajorityofthesePopTartshavefrostedtops,butIlltrytofindyouaplainone.(themajoritymeans
mostofthem)
Becauseyouhavearguedyourpointsopersuasively,themajorityhassidedwithyou.(themajorityrefersto
asingleentity)
 Acoupleoffootnotesaboutmajority:Someusagetexts,suchastheOxfordGuidetoCanadianEnglishUsage
(2nded.,1997),remindustoavoidmajoritywhenwritingaboutthingsthatcantbecountedandcant
thereforehavealogicalmajorityforexample,work,informationortime.Inthesecases,mostisabetter
choice.

Most[notthemajority]ofthetime,youcancountonNatalietotellyouifyourewearingsomething
unflattering.

Othertexts,suchasGarnersModernAmericanUsage(3rded.,2009),gofurtherandpointoutthatmostcan
replacea/themajorityquiteoften,producingcrisperproseandamorenaturalplural.

Numbers
Likenounsofquantity,othernumericalexpressionscanshiftfromsingulartoplural,dependingonwhether
theyrefermoretopluralthingsortoasingleamount.

ThethreehourshespentwatchingABriefHistoryofHorticulturelastnightwerethelongestofMarvinslife.
(emphasisontheindividualhours)
Threehourswassimplytoolongforadocumentaryonshrubs,hedecided.(emphasisonthesingle
amount)

Fine,youmightsay,buttherearenumbers,damnednumbersandthenstatistics.True,percentagesand
fractionscanseemperplexing,butusageauthoritiesareconsistentintheiradvice:thenumberisdeterminedby
thenounfollowingthepercentageorfraction.

Accordingtothissurvey,64percentofrespondentsneedeyeglasseswhentheyread.
Theconsultantsaysthat38percentofthedatabaseneedstobeupdated.
Asnightfallsonthewildernesspark,onequarterofthecampersareblaringtheirradiosandthreequarters
ofthecampersarestewing.
Onequarteroftheparkisnoisythreequartersissilent.

Othercollectivenouns
Collectivenounsthatarelessnumberorientedcanbeequallytroublesome.Group,team,committee,staffand
soonaretheysingularorplural?Here,usageauthoritiestakeslightlydifferentpositionsdependingonwhich
sideoftheAtlantictheycallhome.IntheU.K.thesenounsareusuallytreatedasplural.InNorthAmerica
theyreusuallytreatedassingular,exceptwhenthemembersofthecollectiveareactingindependently,inwhich
casethenounsareconsideredplural.

Inthephoto,theteamisholdingaloftabannerthatsays"DebatingRules!"(theteamisactingasone
entity)
Theteamarearguingamongthemselvesaboutwhostartedtheonicefight.(theindividualsareacting
separately)

Thoughthelattersentenceiscorrect,manyCanadianeditorswouldchangeitto"Theteammembersare
arguing...."or"Theplayersarearguing...."tomakethepluralsoundmorenatural(andtosatisfyeditors
innatefussinessaboutconsistency).

Indeed,withcollectivenouns,consistencymattersaboveall.AsBillBrysonnotesinBrysonsDictionaryof
TroublesomeWords,"Acommonfaultistoflounderaboutbetweensingularandplural.EvenSamuelJohnson
stumbledwhenhewrotethatheknewofnonationthathaspreservedtheirwordsandphrasesfrom
mutability."Sokeepthedebatingteamsingularandthehockeyteamplural.

Dontcountonnumbers
Andwhatabouttwoplustwo?Thefactisthatwithequations,singularandpluralarebothcorrect,though
singularispreferred.Onceagain,consistencymattersmorethanthechoiceitself.

Inmath,itseasytodistinguishbetweenoneandmorethanone.Butinlanguage,itsnotthatsimple.In
language,itdepends.Thegrammarofnumbersismutable,whichisboththechallengeandthebeautyofthis
imperfectscience.

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DateModified:20151015