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"Though the number of women's welfare societies are growing."

"Though the number of women's welfare societies is growing."

Which one is correct? I found this sentence in GMAT question book.

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av910
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2 Answers2

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Google is your friend, friend.

Top result points to en.oxforddictionaries.com, which states:

Although the expression ‘a number’ is strictly singular, the phrase ‘a number of’' is used with plural nouns (as what grammarians call a determiner (or determiner)). The verb should therefore be plural:

A number of people are waiting for the bus.

This is not the case with ‘the number’, which is still singular:

The number of people here has increased since this morning.

Hence, in your case, "is" is correct.

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drewhart
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  • Actual question is as follows where you need to select the correct answer and this question is from gmat guide >Though the number of women's welfare societies are growing, statistics show that the ratio of their new registrations with that of men have been roughly static since 1960.

    A. with that of men have been

    B. to that of men are

    C. to those of men have been

    D. with those of men is

    E. to those of men has been

     – av910 Aug 23 '18 at 16:25
  • I stand by my answer to your original question until proven incorrect. – drewhart Aug 24 '18 at 14:02
  • @av910 Drewhart is right. "The number" is the subject of the verb and the singular form of the verb is, therefore, correct. Even in the expanded version "The number" is still the subject of the verb. Also ratios are normally referred to as being "A to B" not "A with B". Are you sure that you have a genuine GMAT guide? – BoldBen Sep 03 '18 at 04:20
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"Is" is correct. "Number" is the subject of both sentences. The verb should be singular to agree with "number".

Theresa
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