Subject-verb agreement in sentences with quantifiers Some colective nouns, such as staff, majority, and minority, can have a singular or plural verb (he takes=singular; they take=plural). If the noun refers to the individual members of a unit, the verb is plural: The majority of people in the world speak more than one language.   (notice that in Portuguese we say 'a maioria fala'; we use a singular verb. Only a minority of U.S. students write correctly when they enter college. If the noun refers to a whole unit, the verb is singular: In the U.S., Spanish speakers constitute a linguistic minority that is growing rapidly. None, each, and every one are followed by a singular verb: None of my friends knows how to write good business letters. Each of the instructor in the scholl has a different teaching style. All (of), a lot of, lots of, some, most, plenty, and fractions are followed by a singular verb if the noun they modify is uncountable or singular and by a plural verb if the noun they modify is plural, like in Portuguese: A lot of contact with native speakers helps to learn a second language better. Half of the textbook is about improving your communication skill. A lot of second language learners have difficulty using informal English. Half of the chapters in the book deal with improving writing skills. exercises advanced english special difficulties advanced english home