Singular or plural verb with "a minimum of"

Asked Jun 28 '17 at 17:57

Active Jun 28 '17 at 18:02

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Does the phrase "a minimum of" in conjunction with a plural term require a singular or plural verb?

"A minimum of 1.6 million reads was generated per sample."

vs.

"A minimum of 1.6 million reads were generated per sample."

Edit 1: I suppose that the situation is similar to using the collective noun "a total of", in which case a plural verb would be required ("A total of 10 babies is..." vs. "a total of 10 babies are..." vs. "Ten babies in total are...")

edited Jun 28 '17 at 18:02

asked Jun 28 '17 at 17:57

It's not specifically "a minimum" that's being generated per sample, but some number of reads - so it seems logical and correct to use a plural verb. – ekhumoro Jun 28 '17 at 19:51

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