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Situation: Let's say two neighbors are talking about their neighborhood.

Sentence: ''The houses here has/have many windows''

There is an article, but the noun that it introduces is plural.

Do I use has or have?

John Arvin
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  • Very related: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/142342/does-singular-or-plural-verb-goes-with-plural-nouns-like-trousers-glasses-scis After all, if it counts for them, then surely for your simple example. Also this one: https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/96244/group-noun-singular-or-plural –  Feb 08 '18 at 14:45
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    @Jan The questions are different. This question almost certainly arises because the OP is not aware that the introduces both singular and plural noun phrases. The question you refer to, on the other hand, deals with subject-verb agreement where the noun is plural in form but can be used with a singular verb. – Jim Reynolds Feb 08 '18 at 14:52
  • @JanDoggen, I dont think those links you put in correlate my question, coz they are all about compound nouns and ending with -s (measles, singular). Thx anyway. – John Arvin Feb 08 '18 at 16:54
  • @JimReynolds, hello sir, can you give me advice on how to be superbly accurate in grammar? I've seen you profile, I strongly believe you can gimme' some. Thx in advance Sir hehe. – John Arvin Feb 08 '18 at 17:09
  • Most people learn to use a language well by hearing and--especially--reading a lot of it, not by studying grammar directly. Read and listen to English that you can understand and that you find very interesting. – Jim Reynolds Feb 09 '18 at 02:30
  • Using the is optional. You can use it because it indicates a group of houses (houses that are "here"). A specific group must be identified. But from the verb standpoint it is still a quantity of houses. – user3169 Feb 09 '18 at 03:09
  • @JimReynolds, thank you sir. I always read and watch english movies, articles(national geo, discovery, and others) all these to give a boost in my english proficiency both formal and informal register. I will do what you have said, if you have another tip(s) pls. do, thx. – John Arvin Feb 09 '18 at 20:03
  • @user3169, dude thx. I got what you were saying. It's like when you it is already known what you are talking about, whether it is plural or singular, you add 'the'-definite article. Right? Thx. – John Arvin Feb 09 '18 at 20:06

1 Answers1

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Yes, there is a definite article.  No, that article does not mark number. 

The noun is plural, in both structure and meaning.  The verb form that agrees is "have". 

Compare:

The houses here have many windows. 

with

The neighborhood has many windows. 

 

On the other hand, the indefinite article does mark number.  We find "a house" to be a perfectly natural and sensible noun phrase, but "a houses" is confusing and (unless "a" represents something other than the indefinite article) just plain wrong. 

Gary Botnovcan
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  • This answer is ok. If you can edit it to make it clearer and answer my question right off the bat(has or have) in the beginning sentence, and not about definite article. Anyway, I have learned a new thing here 'definite' and 'indefinite' coz I thought they are only in one category, which is 'article' that cannot be categorized into 2. – John Arvin Feb 08 '18 at 17:07
  • Ah, but you see, there's a reason for this order of presentation. I addressed your point of confusion first and directly answered your question second, so that you can understand the answer once you've reached it. Then, the supporting examples show how the answer works, so that you can check your new understanding. Finally, I show how your initial point of confusion could have arisen from over-generalizing or mis-applying the answer to a different problem, so that you're less likely to do the same thing with this problem and answer. – Gary Botnovcan Feb 08 '18 at 19:43
  • Oh well, I'll give this a thumb's up now as the accepted answer here. Cheers. – John Arvin Feb 09 '18 at 20:07