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Which is correct there is a number of or there are a number of?
Use there is a number if you want to emphasize a group as a whole. Use there are a number if you want to emphasize individual members in a group.
Is it correct to say there are?
Use there is when the noun is singular (“There is a cat”). Use there are when the noun is plural (“There are two cats”).
How do you use was or were in a sentence?
Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it). Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they). I was driving to the park. You were drinking some water.
Is it correct to say “there was a number of”?
Here, the indefinite article “A” serves as a determiner or a modifier of a “singular” noun, which, in this particular case, is “number.” As it is, then, it is correct to say “there was a number of.” But, with regard to the correct answer so far, this is not all.
How do you say a number of people is?
In the USA we would properly say: “a number of people is.” This is the grammatically way to have the subject and verb agree in number/count: you are saying “a number,” indicating a singular noun subject, and you are saying “is,” which is a plural verb.
How do you use a number of in a sentence?
‘A number of’ means several, some. Several students were late for class. Some students were late for class. A number of students were late for class. The subject of these sentences is ‘students’, and ‘some’, ‘several’, ‘a number of’ are modifiers of ‘students’. The verb agrees with the subject.
Is ‘a number of’ singular or plural?
Although the expression ‘a number’ is strictly singular, the phrase ‘a number of’’ is used with plural nouns (as what grammarians call a determiner (or determiner)). The verb should therefore be plural: A number of people are waiting for the bus. This is not the case with ‘the number’, which is still singular: