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Need help with include vs. includes:

He's had hits with a massive number of artists that include so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so.

Or should it be includes, agreeing with the word "number"?

Dan Bron
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Coquille
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    ...artists, including ... – Edwin Ashworth Feb 24 '15 at 19:29
  • Although you didn't ask this, I'd honestly just reword the sentence. It's going to be confusing no matter what because the reader is trying to figure out if you're enumerating artists or hits, no matter what form of "include" you use. – Calphool Feb 24 '15 at 19:34
  • The construction a number of plural-noun is itself plural, not singular. Not sure why you would think otherwise. – tchrist Feb 27 '15 at 22:19

1 Answers1

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To specifically answer the question you asked, either works.

He's had hits with a massive number of artists that include A, B, and C.

In this case, the prepositional object is "artists that include A, B, and C" and the antecedent/referent to "that" is "artists".

He's had hits with a massive number of artists that includes A, B, and C.

In this case, the prepositional object is limited to "artists" and the antecedent/referent to "that" is "number".

Due to the ambiguous construction, I would go with Edwin's suggestion.

He's had hits with a massive number of artists, including A, B, and C.

Paul Rowe
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