Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: 10% is o are?

Buongiorno a tutti.
Ho un dubbio.
Dopo una percentuale il verbo va al singolare o al plurale?
"Il 10% dei residenti č multi-miliardario"
"10% of residents is multi-millionaire" oppure
"10% of residents are multi-millionaires"
Grazie!
-- 
"La luce č piů veloce del suono. Per questo motivo alcune persone sembrano 
brillanti fino a quando non parlano." 

 "10% of residents are multi-millionaires"
are

 ha scritto nel 
messaggio news:i6neik$hb4$1...@news.eternal-september.org...


 
In your example, "are" is correct, as Tony pointed out.
In another example, you would say "is."
10% [of residents] are multi-millionaires. 10% is higher than expected."
-- 
Joey from NY

 
Immagino che dipenda da cosa e' questo  10%, nel senso se e' un elemento o di
piu'. 
Ad esempio:
Una palla di cui parte e' nera
  10% of the ball is black
molte palle parte delle quali sono nere
  10% of the balls are black
In effetti..  esattamente come in italiano
Puo' essere un problema con i nomi collettivi: se ho un gregge di pecore di
cui il 10% sono nere, si dice
 10% of the flock is black 
oppure
 10% of the flock are black
Propendo per la prima ma non sono sicuro
G

 are
shouldn't is be: 10% of THE residents are multi-millionaires?
-- 
groetjes Renée
Humor is everywhere, in that there's irony in just about anything a 
human does.
Bill Nye, Interview with Wired.com, April 2005

 shouldn't is be: 10% of THE residents are multi-millionaires?
That would be preferable, but the omission of the article in this 
context is not uncommon. The "the" is implied.
By the way, G brings up an important issue with the partial-colored ball 
example. You should use "are" for countable subjects and "is" for 
uncountable subjects. But, one must always defer to accepted practice 
rather than rely solely on rules of grammar.
The group is ready.
Ten percent of the group are ready.
Part of the group is ready.
All ten people in the group are ready.
One of the ten people in the group is ready.
The sheep (singular) is black
The sheep (plural) are black.
Ten percent of the sheep are black.
I'm just relieved that nobody has offered examples using the word 
"data". There are some people with strong opinions on the plural versus 
singular usage of that word. I'm not one of them.
I should say that I'm not an expert on rules of English grammar, 
although I am fairly knowledgeable, and and my writing skill and ear for 
spoken English patterns are acknowledged as highly-developed by my 
peers. Still, I do at times need to have discussions with professional 
editors on grammar topics. And I've found that, when it comes to some 
fine points of grammar, what is preferred English usage depends on the 
person, the situation, and the industry.
So, my advice to an English learner would be to always pursue 
perfection, up to a point. Aim for clear writing, good, consistent 
grammar, and a pleasing sound to the ear, and then, ultimately, accept 
the ambiguity of the real world. That doesn't include slang and 
vulgarity in every sentence. They're much more fun and effective when 
used appropriately and sparingly.

 much more fun and effective when used appropriately and sparingly.
Thanks for that. You are Italian?
Is it 'the police are' or 'the police is'? In Dutch it would be the 
latter, but translating too much isn't good. :)


> context is not uncommon. The "the" is implied.
I cannot say that for sure, but my guess is that dropping the definite 
article is due to the influence of American English on British/European 
English. I remember the frontpage of a USA Today issue I saw years ago, 
that was worded in such a way as to avoid using "the" almost altogether 
(maybe there were one or maximum two instances of the definite article).
nanà

 latter, but translating too much isn't good. :)
are


And I see that you omit the indefinite article and the preposition: 
maybe there was one or a maximum of two instances...

 maybe there was one or a maximum of two instances...
That is definitely due to the influence of my native Italian on English, 
which is not my mother tongue. Thank you for pointing out.
nanà

 are
thank you.
In Italian it is singular?


 In Italian it is singular?
My dictionary says that 'polizia' is singluar.

Grazie a tutti.
Nell'esempio di G, propenderei per 10% of the flock is black.