Is the sentence "There is a large number of labourers who want to migrate to Japan for work." correct?

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A number of questions “has been” or “have been” asked?

There is a large number of labourers who want to migrate to Japan for work.

I type this sentence in a word processor, and it reports an error that "is" should be "are" (subject-verb agreement).

I doubt this is a valid error. Could anyone confirm this?

I agree. It's a possible duplicate. I'm sorry I didn't find that one. — Elfaron, Dec 15 '11 at 07:27

score 12 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 15 '11 at 04:12

This site has a good explanation about some of the subtleties of using collective nouns. In particular:

Note that "the number" is a singular collective noun. "The number of applicants is steadily increasing." "A number," on the other hand, is a plural form: "There are several students in the lobby. A number are here to see the president."

It's a peculiarity of "number" as a grouping noun. If you had said "group" instead, then the singular would have been correct:

There is a large group of labourers who want to migrate to Japan for work.

Here's another worthy read on the topic: http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/04/25/a_number_of_the_phrase_is_treated_as_both_singular_and_plural_and_preceded.html — Fabien Snauwaert, Feb 13 '16 at 17:20

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

5

It should be "are". The phrase "a large number of labourers", like "a lot of labourers" and "a dozen labourers", is a plural construction in English and takes the verb "are".

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

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answered Dec 15 '11 at 04:03

Peter Shor

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You make a good point that there are many situations where this applies. I like your comment that argues it depends on the context. – joeytwiddle Dec 17 '15 at 12:25

Is the sentence "There is a large number of labourers who want to migrate to Japan for work." correct?

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