When is the Subject NOT the Subject

Be prepared for class.  That is the number one rule for a teacher (and a student).  However, a second, very important rule is: Be prepared to throw your lesson plan out the window.  (For students, the second most important rule is: Ask questions.)

I was reminded of this last night when I got a very interesting question from a former student--let’s call him DK--via my Facebook grammar forum, which I’ll answer later in this blog.  Some of my all-time favorite lessons have been totally improvised and started with one great question that led to another question, and another, and another.  It’s like a bunch of musicians sitting down and jamming.  (See my blog Keep the Music in the Classroom.)

DK’s question was about quantifiers and whether a certain quantifier was considered singular or plural, to which I confidently replied “Plural.”  Then another former student--let’s call him KF--jumped in and said, “Wait a minute.  Shouldn’t it be singular?”  Unfortunately I couldn’t use my standard answer, which is “No, because I’m bigger than you,” to prove my point because KF also provided a link to an answer that backed up his position, sort of.  (To imagine my immediate reaction, Imagine the classic bit on Seinfeld.  “Newman!”)  So I actually had to do some thinking.  Here are the four conclusions I made.

First, I knew I should have followed my first instinct and denied KF entry into the grammar group.  Nothing can mess up a teacher like a smart kid who asks really good questions and can back them up.

Second, I am really old.  I first began teaching KF when he was in fifth grade and visiting the U.S. from Japan.  Now he is a big, bad senior ready to take on the world.

Third, somewhere along the way, KF has gotten a very good education.  Hopefully I had a little to do with that.  To all of my students, whom I will force to read this blog entry, never be afraid to ask questions.  However, make sure you can back them up.

Fourth, sorry KF.  I’m right.  And not just because I’m bigger than you.

So anyway, DK’s specific question was Is the phrase a number of scientists singular or plural?  My immediate answer was singular because a number obviously is one group.  I then added an example sentence to demonstrate my genius.  A number of scientists have suggested...  Whoops.  That’s plural.  Now I actually have to think.  (This is called native-speaker intuition.  As a native speaker, you automatically know when something sounds correct or not.  You just don’t necessarily know why.)

Here’s the final answer I came up with.

In order to figure this out, you have to go back to quantifiers and their rules/patterns.  (I’ll try to write a detailed blog entry on this soon.)  The short explanation is as follows.

A quantifier is any word that answers the questions how much or how many.  For example: A lot of students were late for school today because of traffic.  A lot of is a quantifier because it answers the question How many students...?  Another example is Skyler spilled some milk on the table, which answers the question How much milk...?

Furthermore, quantifiers can be used three different ways.  The two patterns that are important here are quantifier + noun and quantifier + of + noun phrase.

• Most Americans live in big cities.
• Most of my friends live in big cities.

In the first example, Americans is the subject of the clause, but in the second, most is the subject and friends is the object of the preposition of.  Therefore, if you change most to one, the subject becomes plural.

• Most of my friends are married.
• One of my best friends is a doctor.

The question now is this.  Is the quantifier in the example a number or a number of?  There are several quantifiers that I call phrasal quantifiers.  The most common are a lot of and a couple of.  Look at these examples.

• I saw a lot of hikers on the trail today.
• I bought a couple of t-shirts at the concert.
• Most of my friends are married.

Now, change the quantifiers in these sentences to regular numbers, which are also quantifiers.

• I saw fifty hikers on the trail today.
• I bought two t-shirts at the concert.
• Seven of my friends are married.

As you can see, the first two sentences follow the pattern quantifier + noun and the third sentence follows the pattern quantifier + of + noun phrase.  Therefore, the direct objects of the first two sentences are hikers and t-shirts and the quantifiers are adjectives.  Of is part of the phrasal quantifiers a lot of and a couple of  In the last sentence, though, the quantifier seven is the subject and of is a preposition.

Now, apply this test to the question.  Again, is the quantifier in this sentence a number of or a number?  What happens when you substitute another quantifier?  Which is correct, a number of scientists have suggested or a number of scientists has suggested?  Well, which of these new sentences is correct?

• Many scientists have suggested...
• Many of scientists has agreed...

To me, clearly the first sentence is correct.  A number of is the quantifier and scientists is the subject.  Consequently, the expression a number of scientists is plural.

This is probably way more information than you ever wanted, but this is the process I used to answer DK’s question.  If you have questions like this and would like to join Mr. K’s Grammar World on Facebook, please click on this link.