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Mohamed
Grammar question
Please See this example:
"A broad range of antibiotics are available with varying mechanisms of action."
I don't know why "are" is used instead of "is" I think the verb to be is referring to the range not the antibiotics themselves.
Please elaborate.
Thanks
2018년 2월 17일 오전 11:02
답변 · 3
1
Technically, you're correct. It should be "a range of [plural noun] is", because "range" is singular. In practice, both are used, but "is" is more common.
You can see usage statistics of "range of antibiotics is/are" here: https://tinyurl.com/ydysoaay
You can also see usage statistics of "range of subjects is/are" here: https://tinyurl.com/ycqjvru6
As you can see, "is" and "are" are both used, but "is" is used more.
I would stick with "is".
2018년 2월 17일
This use of "are" is a mistake. As you see, the last word of the noun phrase "a broad range of antibiotics" is plural. So, the person who wrote this text just made a mistake. We are all human after all. Usually such mistakes occur with noun phrases having more words.
2018년 2월 17일
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