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I've made up two words for my personal needs in a story. They are "mostbody" and "fewbody" used in a dialect in direct speech (see explanation here. Introduce new English dialect). I would like to know if it's better to use plural or singular with these words?

  • "I tells you that fewbody in our vil' agree/agrees with you."

I'm thinking of presenting "fewbody" as either a union or separate units. From what I know about "everybody", "somebody", or "anybody" - they all use only singular.

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Agreed, definitely use singular to parallel "everybody," "somebody," and "nobody."

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I don't think these words would work, nor do I think they are needed in English. The usual way to express those ideas is simply to use the words few and most when referring to people.

For example:

I am telling you that few in our village would agree with you.

There are few in our village who would agree with you.

I am telling you that most in our village would agree with you.

Most in our village would agree with you.

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  • I know the simple and common way, thank you. I'm intending to use a dialect and since I've changed "few" to "fewbody" I'm thinking it changes from plural to singular. However, I still think plural is possible.
    – SovereignSun
    Jan 12, 2018 at 11:56

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