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Dec 14 2008   11:48PM GMT

Writing for business — a majority is or a majority are?



Posted by: Ivy Wigmore
Business writing, CIO, grammar, is / are, plural/singular, subject-verb agreement
Which is correct?
A 95 percent majority ____ opposed to scheduling meetings for after 5 p.m.
a. is
b. are

Answer: a
Majority on its own is singular. (However, if you write about a majority of some specified group, such as a majority of employees, you should use the plural form, are.)

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Mxkieran  |   Feb 2, 2010  8:52 PM (GMT)

sometimes it’s not clear but in those cases it may not make much of a difference. e.g. “The majority of the millions raised for the cause were wasted”. If you use “was” in that sentence, Word’s grammar checker will flag you but “The majority of the money raised for the cause was wasted” is fine.