Fractions, percentages, and mathematical equations

Hello! You've learned about subject verb agreement in expressions of quantity. Fractions and
percentages are also expressions of quantity. Let's take a closer look at how they affect subject-verb
agreement.

With fractions and percentages, the verb agrees with the noun or pronoun that follows the fraction or
percentage. If the noun or pronoun is singular, use a singular verb.
Half of the work is done.
Or:
Fifty percent of the work is done.

A third of the hotel is full.

About thirty percent of the hotel is full.

If the noun or pronoun that follows a fraction or percentage is plural, then the verb is also plural.

A quarter of his answers were wrong.

Or:
Twenty-five percent of his answers were wrong.

Half of the students are absent today.

Fifty percent of the students are absent.

When a collective noun follows a fraction or percentage, we usually use a singular verb, as in these
examples:
Half of the audience was asleep.
Fifty percent of the public has voted in favor of the proposal.

But it's also possible to use a plural verb if we want to emphasize the individual members. For example,
we might say:
Half of my family live in Canada.
Or:
Only twenty-five percent of the faculty were present at the meeting last night.

If this is a little confusing, don't worry. You will always be correct if you use a singular verb.
Remember, a prepositional phrase does not affect subject verb agreement.
Look at this example:
Fifty percent of the students in this class are from China.
The subject of the sentence is students, not class.

Here's another example:

Only half of the information from those websites is useful.
Here, the subject is information, not websites.

Arithmetic expressions take singular verbs. We usually use is or equals. Here are some examples.
One and one equals two.
Six times six is 36. 500,000 plus 500,000 is one million.

I hope one hundred percent of this lesson was clear!