0

I want to say that on Wednesday the number of push ups were/was 20.

Is the above mentioned line correct?

Improve this question
1
  • 3
    Was. The verb refers to the word 'number', not 'push-ups'. 'number' is singular.
    – shin
    Sep 17, 2015 at 3:34

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

The number of push-ups was 20. The number was 20. There were 20 push-ups.

Edit: The long version, for clarity-- "The number of push-ups was 20" is the correct choice. The form of the verb (were/was, infinitive "to be") is determined by "number" in this case. This can be tested by removing "of push-ups" from the sentence, which yields the grammatically correct sentence, "The number was 20." An example of a sentence that uses "were" correctly is, "On Wednesday, there were 20 push-ups."

Improve this answer
1
  • Kindly improve your answer. The OP wants to know that why we would use 'was' or 'were'.
    – Maulik V
    Sep 17, 2015 at 12:41

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .