English grammar question
1.The number of our students __has__ grown rapidly since 1980.

2.Almost two-thirds of the land on this country __is__ unsuitable for farming.

3.One of the advantages of living near school __is__ the facilities and cafeteria available on campus.

I was told that for question 1, "The number" is the subject and is viewed as singular, that's why the verb for that sentence is "is". The verb for Question 3 works fine by the same token. But for question 2, I am stucked. Can someone tell me what is the subject of question 2 ? Thank you so much.Thank you for those who kindly answered my question. I had typos and thank you for correcting them.

Question

English grammar question
1.The number of our students __has__ grown rapidly since 1980.

2.Almost two-thirds of the land on this country __is__ unsuitable for farming.

3.One of the advantages of living near school __is__ the facilities and cafeteria available on campus.

I was told that for question 1, "The number" is the subject and is viewed as singular, that's why the verb for that sentence is "is". The verb for Question 3 works fine by the same token. But for question 2, I am stucked. Can someone tell me what is the subject of question 2 ? Thank you so much.Thank you for those who kindly answered my question. I had typos and thank you for correcting them.

Answer

1. has grown, it's Present Perfect of "grow", have/has + Participle II
2. the subject is land, and it should be "two thirds"

Answer

I agree with David's answer.  I would add the following:

1.  "Number" is the subject and it is singular.  But the tense of the sentence is past perfect (because of "grown"), so that' s why you need to use "has" instead of "is."  If the tense was present progressive, you would use "is":  "the number of our students is growing rapidly."

2.  As to what is the subject of the second sentence, I'm embarrassed to say I'm not sure.  But I think the answer is "the land" or "two-thirds of the land."   Here is why I say that.  In a sentence of the form "Almost X% of the Noun is/are Adjective," you choose "is" or "are" depending on whether the Noun is singular or plural.  Examples:  Almost 2/3 of the land IS unsuitable.  Almost 2/3 of the students ARE unhappy.

3.  In three, the use of "one" requires the singular "is."  Other examples:  "One of the reasons I quit IS . . ."  The "one" means that  your are speaking of a singular advantage/reason/etc.

Answer

You actually got number 2 correct, as well as question 3. However, number 1 should actually be "has," not "is".

Answers · 3

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