'was' or 'were'?
I've put this question on google groups ( these are all usenet groups. the best groups on the net, in my opinion). The replys will be coming soon. Until that, I am posing the same question to you people."
I stumbled upon this sentence in an article on bbc sport. The sentence is
.........There was a lot of people who acted on anger...
When I first read it, my immediate reaction was that there should've been 'were' instead of 'was'. But, I think 'was' is correct because of the subsquent 'a'. But in this case what is the exact meaning of 'lot'. What does one mean when he or she says--'I've lots of book'? In the previous para is it correct to say-- lot of my friends, ie, can we use 'a lot' instead of 'many'?
"
I asked this to some from my class and everyone said that the sentence is wrong. 'was' should be replaced by 'were'. Your opinions are welcome. I'll be giving the usenet responses tomorrow.
posted by ninad @ 12:51 am
3 Comments:
I completely understand your dilemma. Its been quite a frequent event that Ive come across various portals or info sites on the web wherein there have been sentences that have the odd 'was' or 'were' presence. And in most cases I have dismissed them off as 'errors in correction' or 'something overlooked by overworked publishers'. But its become a great concern since the time you have posed this question in our class! And now to think of it, I feel it is a strong influence of the American English. I may be wrong. But i say it because on various American websites uploaded on the net, I have found the similar use of the verb. If I were to give a logical explanation, I think to refer to a group of any items, we perceive it to be a single thing. hence the use of the evrb 'was'. That's my opinion. But if I were to use a sentences whch contains the plural sense of anything, the verb 'were' would follow.
I agree, since the word 'lot' has been used as a collective noun, the usage is fine. But, I cannot confidently say anything unless some language expert (like, you yourself, Ninad) confirms it.
The responses to the question on usenet (google groups) can be found at following link.
google groups alt.english.usage
The gist of the messages according to me is...
It is correct to use 'were' if noun is countable, like people, (there were a lot of people) and use 'was' if noun is not countable, like sugar, (there was a lot of sugar). Something like 'much' and 'many'. The usage i've mentioned, is currently restricted to spoken English, though it is creeping in formal usage.
Post a Comment
<< Home