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If I want to talk about some people in general who want to be X. Is the X should be plural or not? I have this doubt since I remember there's a grammar book explains about this (I couldn't find which book is) and in English, according to the book, this form is used sometimes:

Plural subject + to be/to have + singular

In the examples below which one is grammatically correct and if there is only one, does the other one still sound natural and is it used in a daily conversation?

  1. I don't know why people want to be a teacher.
  2. I don't know why people want to be teachers.
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2 Answers 2

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Some people want to be teachers, other don't.

I don't know why people want to be teachers.

I don't know anyone (or someone) wants to be a teacher.

The one with the plural noun people doesn't work with the singular noun teacher.

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Both are correct, but the second is more natural. "people" can be singular too, but it can sound off even though it is grammatically correct. plural and plural sounds better.

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  • I much prefer 2.
    – James K
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 5:38
  • Oh, do I change my answer? @JamesK seeing as you are much more experienced than me :P
    – DialFrost
    Commented Jun 22, 2022 at 5:39
  • A claim like " 'I don't know why people want to be a teacher' is correct" would need authoritative support on ELU. The distributive singular is widely used, but Orwell advises the avoidance of anything sounding outlandish. Pairing 'people' with 'a teacher' is very incongruous.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 26, 2022 at 14:32
  • Agreed -- I would reject the singular here. But compare "I don't know why everyone wants to be a teacher"
    – Luke Sawczak
    Commented Aug 23, 2022 at 4:34

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