What is correct verb here, is or are?
I know a bunch of people who is/are responsible for the act.
I think bunch and people are both singular. But together plural So how to write the sentence above.
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ell.stackexchange.com/questions/69255/…– V.V.Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 5:02
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@V.V. that one is different! :)– Maulik VCommented Aug 17, 2016 at 6:08
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3 Answers
Your sentence needs to use "are" since "who" refers to each member of the "bunch of people"
I know a bunch of people who are responsible for the act.
I know several people who are (each) responsible for the act.
You could reformulate your sentence to mean
I know (that) a bunch of people is responsible for the act.
I know that a group (of people) is responsible for the act.
Your confusion lies with the use of who.
A bunch is a singular noun and is impersonal. It is more normal to say:
I know a bunch of people that is responsible for the act.
Nouns like bunch, team and group may refer to people but are themselves treated as singular objects. Much like herd, flock or shoal when referring to animals.
There is a tendency, especially in spoken British English, to use a plural form for a group of people ("my team are winning"). However, this is not strictly correct.
answered Aug 17, 2016 at 9:41
I think bunch and people are both singular. But together plural
This is incorrect; "bunch" is singular and "people" is plural. So a "bunch of people", like a "basket of apples" or a "suite of rooms", is singular.
Whatever verbs you use after a group word like "bunch", applies not to the individual objects within the group but the group itself. Since the group is impersonal, using the word "who" here is not correct.
