I was wondering which is correct. 20% percent of the population is a man or 20% of the population is men. I understand that a singular verb is to be used but...
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Twenty percent of the population are men. – Jim Mar 03 '16 at 04:19
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Please show the community any reference that shows why a singular verb is to be used or tell us why you think a singular verb is to be used. – Mar 03 '16 at 04:24
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How about in the case of 1% of the population..? – Mar 03 '16 at 04:25
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Only if the population consists of one man and four women. – deadrat Mar 03 '16 at 04:29
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I would pesonally say " 20% of the population are men" but I've been lead to believe a singular verb is needed because population is a mass noun. – Mar 03 '16 at 04:29
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Are you asking about "are" vs "is" or "a man" vs "men"? Please edit your question to make it more clear. – Mar 03 '16 at 04:44
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man or men@Rathony – Mar 03 '16 at 04:49
2 Answers
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Well, I'd go with: "Twenty percent of the population are men."
If you find that a bit ticklish, you can change that to: "Men make up 20 percent of the population."
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Welcome to English Language & Usage. It is not encouraged to post an answer without any research/reference/link that can support it. Please edit your answer after taking the tour and visiting our help center for additional guidance. – Mar 03 '16 at 05:20
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Please improve your answer. I particularly like "Men make up (or comprise) twenty percent of the population." It's a great suggestion that just needs some support. – Egox Mar 03 '16 at 14:40
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What complicates this sentence is the usage of the word population, which is singular. If you were to replace it with people, it would be obvious that you are talking about a number of people, so you need a plural- "20% of the people are men".
If you wanted to describe the whole population rather thsn the individuals that make it up, you would have to use a singular verb and an adjective - "20% of the population is male".
JavaLatte
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"20% of the population is male" is arguably the more correct answer, given that we read "%" as percent (one part in a hundred) and that this is the subject of the sentence, modified by the adjectives "20" and "of the people". Everyone is, not everyone are. Nevertheless, everyone would probably agree that "20% of them are men" is a nice trick for avoiding "20 out of every 100 of them are men". – Egox Mar 03 '16 at 14:36