This week’s column answers two grammar queries sent in by a reader. The first is whether ‘majority’ takes a singular or a plural verb and the second is whether ‘many’ can take a singular verb. The word ‘majority’ can be either singular or plural, depending on whether we are talking about a group or collection of individuals, or the individuals in a group. If we use the word to describe a group of individuals we can treat it as a singular noun and if we use the word to describe individuals we can treat it as a plural noun as in the examples below:
A majority of the teaching community is dedicated to work.
A majority of the police force in India is corrupt.
The majority of the population in Rwanda is Catholic.
A majority of the software professionals in IT firms are stressed.
A majority of the employees do not want to work on Saturdays.
In the first three examples above, since the noun phrases ‘the teaching community’ and ‘the police force’ and the noun ‘population’ are collective groups (singular), the noun ‘majority’ in the sentences takes a singular verb whereas in sentences 4 and 5, the noun phrase ‘software professionals’ and the noun ‘employees’ are a collection of individuals (plural) and so ‘majority’ takes a plural verb. When ‘majority’ is not followed by ‘of + a noun phrase’, it takes a singular verb as in these examples:
An 80 per cent majority wants a re-election.
A 65 per cent majority is against the implementation of the rule.
He wants to push Obamacare down the throats of the American public when the majority is against it.”
“The majority is against forming religious parties, be they Islamist or Christian,” Moussa said.
‘Majority’ means the greater number and can be applied only to numbers. It cannot be used to mean ‘larger part of something’. So, it is incorrect to say:
The majority of the book is boring.
I ate the majority of the pudding.
In other words, ‘majority’ is a countable noun and it can be used only with countable nouns: His children took the majority of the sweets. It is incorrect to use it with uncountable nouns. So it is incorrect to say: Suresh ate the majority of the rice. Instead, we should say, Suresh ate most of the rice. But according to www.oxforddictionaries.com, ‘majority’ can be used with uncountable nouns to mean the ‘greatest part’ as in I spent the majority of the day reading.
Does ‘many’ take a singular verb?
Many is normally plural, but it takes a singular verb when a singular noun follows the “many a” as in this examples:
Many a teacher has taken the eligibility test.
The phrase “many a” is followed by a singular noun though the meaning is plural.