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hanakimis
 
 

1 out of 4 people eat(s) chicken?

by hanakimis Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:36 pm

Hi. When constructing statements that are of the form: (X number) out of (Y number) (type of object) Verb + (rest of sentence), what is the rule for the plurality of the verb?

Is it "3 out of 4 people enjoy(s) swimming." ? Does it matter if the first number is a 1 (1 out of 5 Americans is/are now in debt.)?

Thanks.
kylo
 
 

by kylo Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:55 pm

"1 out of 5 Americans is" - correct.

"3 out of 4 people enjoy" - correct.



Thanks!
JonathanSchneider
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
Posts: 370
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:40 pm
 

by JonathanSchneider Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:07 pm

Nice work, Kylo. Yes, ignore the adjective ("out) and the prepositional phrase ("of every ___") - match the subject to the verb.