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248
Ten years is a long time.
Another five minutes goes by.
A million francs is a lot of money.
3. Notional agreement is also observed with subjects expressed by word-groups including nouns of quantity:
a/the number of..., a/the majority of..., (a) part of..., the bulk of..., a variety of... . These admit of either a
singular or a plural verb-predicate.
The number (количество) of pages in this book
isn’t large.
It was Sunday and a number (многие) of people were
walking about.
In Elisabeth’s reign the bulk of English vegetable
supplies were imported from Holland.
4. Subjects expressed by such invariable plural nouns as goods (товар, товары),
contents (содержание,
содержимое),
riches (богатство, богатства),
clothes (одежда),
wages (зарплата),
eaves (карниз крыши)
have a plural verb.
His wages were only 15 shillings a week.
I asked her what the contents were about.
His clothes were shabby.
The goods were delivered on time.
5. Subjects expressed by such invariable singular nouns as hair, money, gate, information (сведения),
funeral (похороны),
progress (успехи), advice have a singular verb-predicate. These are called “singularia
tantum” “всегда единственное число», as they have no plural.
Her hair is beautiful.
The money is mine.
The gate is open.
The information was unusually interesting.
If the funeral is so detestable to you, you don’t have to go to it.
The corresponding Russian nouns used as subjects are either plural invariables (деньги, ворота, похороны)
or have both the singular and the plural forms (совет - советы, новость - новости).
6. Subjects expressed by invariable nouns ending in -s (“pluralia tantum” «всегда множественное число»)
and denoting an indivisible notion or thing have a singular verb-predicate : measles (корь), mumps (свинка),
billiards, dominoes, linguistics, economics, news, headquarters (штаб), works (завод).
No news is good news.
The new works that has been built in our district is very large.
Though nouns in
-ics which are names of sciences and other abstract notions have a singular agreement
when used in their abstract sense; they may have a plural verb-predicate when denoting qualities, practical
applications, different activities, etc. (ethics – “moral rules”, gymnastics –
“physical exercises”). Thus these
nouns may be followed by either a singular or a plural verb.
statistics
a branch of science
collected numbers, figures representing facts
Statistics is a rather modern branch of mathematics.
These statistics show deaths per 1,000 of population.
Statistics on this subject are available,