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I read this sentence earlier, and it struck me as incorrect:

A number of parameters is associated with an open connection.

My first thought was the is should be an are, but talked myself out of that because number is singular. Then I asked my wife (family grammarian), and she says that the sentence is incorrect; it should read as follows:

A number of parameters are associated with an open connection.

We checked out some examples using an online dictionary, and it seems she may be correct. What's the answer - which is correct?

Laurel
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Seamus
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1 Answers1

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[A number of parameters] is/are associated with an open connection.

In simple terms, the non-count quantificational noun "number" (when used with "a") is number transparent in the sense that the number of the whole NP is determined not by the head of the NP ("number") but by the number of the NP that is complement of the preposition "of", called the 'oblique'.

As it happens "number" selects only plural obliques, so the number of the whole NP is plural. The correct verb-form is thus plural "are".

BillJ
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