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Sixty-seven percent of the United States' population plays video games.
Sixty-seven percent of the United States' population play video games.
Which of these is correct?

I understand that I can write "Americans" instead, but I am curious as to which is the correct way.

The Matrix
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    Does this answer your question? Does a percentage quantity take singular or plural verb agreement? (which is to say: "plays," because "population" is singular) – Ryan M Oct 27 '20 at 15:37
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    @Ryan Not so. 67% of the wheat crop has been harvested, but 67% of Americans (or 67% of the American population) have been vaccinated. The controlling factor is (usually) whether the commodity / population / ... is discrete or not. So play here. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 27 '20 at 15:49
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    "Percent" belongs with the number-transparent nouns, i.e. the number of the whole NP depends on the number of the oblique (the complement of the prep "of"). Here, the head of the oblique is "population", and since this is a collective noun, singular agreement can be overridden. Thus "sixty-seven percent of Unites States' population" can take either singular "plays" or plural "play". – BillJ Oct 27 '20 at 16:43
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    Does this answer your question? Technicalities about "%"? – Peter Shor Oct 27 '20 at 18:03
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    I am not voting to close this, but I should. This question of singular versus plural in mixed-number contexts is a constant visitor in a variety of guises. It is easy to see why usage is so uncertain in relation to this phenomenon. But it has surely become a grey area. So my question is, I guess a meta-question : how could we arrive at a definitive answer to this slippery phenomenon within the rules of ELU? – Tuffy Oct 27 '20 at 18:16
  • @Tuffy Have you seen the mouthful I suggested at the 'Does a percentage ...' duplicate? I've not seen the deep analysis of notional agreement (making, if accepted, neither agreement wrong per se) in print. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 27 '20 at 19:09
  • @EdwinAshworth Sorry: do you mean your reply to Ryan M? – Tuffy Oct 27 '20 at 19:12
  • The caveat under Matt ...'s answer. I've added it at the original, under tchrist's answer, too. I didn't give it as an answer because it is a rider, and I can't find authoritative support. ('It wasn't a landslide victory. 46% is a large minority!') – Edwin Ashworth Oct 27 '20 at 19:17
  • "Percent" is here a noun taking a numerical determiner; thus x% is an NP with "percent" as head and "of the United States' population" as its complement. For the rest, see my earlier comment. – BillJ Oct 28 '20 at 12:58

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