a eng. question

hinchun34

A number of tickets is/are (reserve)for students.
(passive voice)can u give me a reason?thx

抹茶可樂

Originally posted by hinchun34 at 2005-3-22 07:14 PM:

my most of the teacher told that the answer is'are'.
i don't believe them and get back some marks in the test. i write the answer same as u. The teacher said that although 'a number' was single, ...

I checked the dictionary and found that I have made a mistake.

Anumber of ticketsarereserved for students.
COMPARE:
The number of ticketsisreserved for students.

hinchun34

Originally posted by 落雷 at 2005-3-22 07:26 PM:

I checked the dictionary and found that I have made a mistake.

Anumber of ticketsarereserved for students.
COMPARE:
The number of ticketsisrese ...

i have writtenA number of ticket not the number of tickets(why?)
and a number=a lot(secret told me)

[ Last edited by hinchun34 on 2005-3-23 at 10:56 PM ]

secret

Originally posted by hinchun34 at 2005-3-22 07:38 PM:

i have written A number of ticket not the number os tickets
and a number=a lot(secret told me)

[ Last edited by hinchun34 on 2005-3-22 at 08:04 PM ]

Yes,so we can change the sentence like this:
A lot of tickets are/were reserved(to......).
The same meaning...am I right......

hinchun34

Originally posted by secret at 2005-3-23 07:41 PM:


Yes,so we can change the sentence like this:
A lot of tickets are/were reserved(to......).
The same meaning...am I right......

but you think it in the other way
a number is single only, so it must be 'is'
but i hv questioned some teachers and some of teachers said 'is' and'are'
so i think i can't hv the correct answer[E-Sad]

secret

Originally posted by hinchun34 at 2005-3-23 07:59 PM:

but you think it in the other way
a number is single only, so it must be 'is'
but i hv questioned some teachers and some of teachers said 'is' and'are'
so i think i can't hv the correct answer ...

No no no,"A number of...." represents the tickets, not "a number".

oscar

Originally posted by hinchun34 at 2005-3-23 19:59:

but you think it in the other way
a number is single only, so it must be 'is'
but i hv questioned some teachers and some of teachers said 'is' and'are'
so i think i can't hv the correct answer ...

這類的agreement要背的~
好像：
1. "One of the" + a plural noun + a singular verb
e.g. One of the girls fails the exam.
2a. "The number of" + plural noun + singular verb
2b. "A number of" + plural noun + plural verb
e.g. The number of boys is fifty.
       A number of boys are playing football.
3. an amount + singular verb
e.g. Ten kilometres is a long distance.
還有很多很多...
(以上資料轉載於"English Grammar For Junior Forms" by Dr. Paul Hill)

hinchun34

Originally posted by secret at 2005-3-23 08:26 PM:


No no no,"A number of...." represents the tickets, not "a number".

you are correct. but have you learned 'collective nouns'. A number of tickets
although 'tickets' is not single, a number of is the main word.'A' of cource is a article, 'A' is single, so it is 'is', that's all of my talking about this. i am not sure.

Originally posted by oscar at 2005-3-23 10:14 PM:

這類的agreement要背的~
好像：
1. "One of the" + a plural noun + a singular verb
e.g. One of the girls fails the exam.
2a. "The number of" + plural noun + singular verb
2b ...

but why some teachers and F.6,7 told me the answer is 'is'. and a note said that if we use on this case, we will use 'is'.

[ Last edited by hinchun34 on 2005-3-23 at 10:22 PM ]

oscar

Originally posted by hinchun34 at 2005-3-23 22:19:

you are correct. but have you learned 'collective nouns'. A number of tickets
although 'tickets' is not single, a number of is the main word.'A' of cource is a article, 'A' is single, so it is ' ...

Collective nouns contain at least two meanings.
Like 'family', it can be treated as a whole family and different family members.
e.g. My family is on a picnic.(Family here means the whole family.)
      My family are all professionals.(Family here means every family members.)
In your case 'A number of tickets', this phrase is not a collective noun.
Also, in a normal case, plural verb should be followed by "A number of (plural noun)".

hinchun34

Originally posted by oscar at 2005-3-23 10:26 PM:

Collective nouns contain at least two meanings.
Like 'family', it can be treated as a whole family and different family members.
e.g. My family is on a picnic.(Family here means the whole famil ...

why 'a number of' is plural and it is 'A'. how about 'a group of' it is used in 'is'
or my eng. is bad.