Singular Or Plural

Question

Hi there, I'm a little confused with the Subject over here.

A majority of commuters reads or listens to music while traveling.

"A majority of commuters" is singular or plural?
Kindly, explain.

"The majority of the students" in the class ARE hard workers.
"The majority of the students" == Plural

Also, 
The student majority IS opposed to the punishment.
"The student majority"== Singular

So, I think "A majority of commuters" should be Plural?
Is it?

heygirl · Answer

yes it is plural because 'commuters' is plural. if the noun was sungular then the subj would be singular.

MHIKER · Answer

Eliminate portion after of. so a majority is singular.

vivgmat · Answer

Could you please clarify why its singular?

rveeraga · Answer

majority can be singular or plural, when it is attached to a prepositional phrase. since commuters in the phrase is plural, majority acts as plural in this case.

MICKEYXITIN · Answer

It's up to the context of the sentence.

MICKEYXITIN · Answer

I think in this sentence the verb should be plural.

Onell · Answer

"Many words that mean a group of things — total, majority, and number, for example — can be singular or plural. Sometimes they mean the group acting as a whole, sometimes the members of a group. "As with the other two-faced words, ask yourself whether you are thinking of the whole or the parts. A little hint: The before the word (the total, the majority) is usually a tip-off that it's singular; while a (a total, a number), especially when of comes after, usually indicates a plural. The majority is in charge. Still, a majority of voters are unhappy" (https://www.drgrammar.org/frequently-asked-questions O'Conner, Woe Is I 26). Is it?

holidevil · Answer

The words majority, minority and plurality are either singular or plural, depending on their context. If you want to indicate the many individual parts of the totality, use a plural verb. If you want to indicate the totality itself, use a singular verb.
In the first instance, we are talking of majority as a whole that does some common function. Since we are talking of the majority as a whole, a singular verb is to be used.
In the second case, we are talking of the many students or the strength of individual students. It makes for a case for plural verb.

e1s · Answer

Neither/Either are similar in that behavior (just as a tip!)

Singular Or Plural

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