Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: was or were?

Hi all!
I'm preparing a publication in English and I have a problem with the verb. 
Here is a sample sentence (not the original one)
1) "Half of the cats were black"  this is what I had in my 1st version - the 
proof reader has not corrected it
2) "Half of the cats was black" my grammar knowledge is telling me that if 
"half" is the subject, I need a singular verb, i.e. "was", but somehow the 
first sentence sounds much better to me.
Can anybody help?
Many thanks,
Anna 

, 
Anna...@aon.at
 says...

Hi Anna,
You were right the first time. 1) "Half of the cats were black". And your
proof reader was wise enough not to correct it.
This is a topic that comes up over and over on the alt.usage.english
newsgroup, usually in the form of whether the following type of 
construction requires a simgular or plural verb:
"The committee (group, etc) is/are undecided." This can go either way 
depending on whether you are emphasising the committee as a whole, or the 
individual members.
Your case is a little different though. Unless you have fewer than three
cats, "half of the cats" is still plural. And as you say, the first
certainly sounds better.
Of course, it could still be ambiguous if the top half of each cat
is white and bottom half black, but this is unusual even for cats. :3 
-- 
Raymot
-------
Brisbane, Aus.

 schrieb im Newsbeitrag 
news:48539f56$0$12945$5a62...@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...

Thank you, Raymot! now I can finally relax!
Anna 

 ha scritto nel messaggio 
news:48539120$0$2243$91ce...@newsreader01.highway.telekom.at...

I would use the singular 'was' according it to the proper subject,
but I know in spoken english they tend to say 'were'. 

 wrote in message
news:48539120$0$2243$91ce...@newsreader01.highway.telekom.at...

Half of each cat was black. The other half was white. (All of the cats were
black and white).
Half of the cats were black. The other half were white. (50% of them were
[all] black, 50% of them were [all] white.
When in doubt, try google.
Joe from Massachusetts

Amleto, il danese. ha scritto:

Same problem in Italian!
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 but I know in spoken english they tend to say 'were'.
You should use 'were' because the cats are countable.
'Half of the cats were black.'
The clauses in the following examples mean two different things.
'Half of the lawns were green, but half of the lawn was yellow.'
'Half of the sheep were white, but half of the sheep was white.' 

 schrieb im 
Newsbeitrag news:CK-dnVX4gu325cvV...@comcast.com...

I do understand the difference between "half of the cat" and "half of the 
cats" - well, now you've cleared my doubt, so I'll go for "half of the cats 
were". This was in fact my first choice, but writing a book in a foreign 
language (as the only author) makes me quite nervous ... I think about all 
those English (mother tongue) speakers who might read it and laugh ... or 
maybe cry! The only consolation is that most linguists write in English ... 
as a foreign language!
Many thanks to all those who contributed!!!
Anna