large numbers of people has or have?
I'm too confused about it.

My answer was "a large number of people have"

could you possibly tell me exactly why?why not?could you please elaborate your explanations you see I have seen this sentence in the cambridge dictionary

sentence:A large number of invitations HAS been sent.

sentence:Large numbers of invitations WERE sent.

I am learning English.Thanks in advance.

asked Feb 16 '13 at 18:05 Mohamad Meamar New member

1 answer


If 'numbers' is plural, it is easy. The verb will be plural as well.


Large numbers of people have...


To determing the number of the verb with 'number', you look at the article in front of 'number'.


A large number of invitations HAVE been sent. 'A' before 'number' uses a plural verb. Many invitations were sent.


The number of people who came was small. 'The' before 'number' uses the singular form.  'The number' is a singular entity.


I hope this helps you.

link comment answered Feb 16 '13 at 19:23 Lewis Neidhardt Grammarly Fellow

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