CONCORD

English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)

CONCORD

A number of people people ~comes~ here daily (nonstandard).
A number of people *come* here daily (standard).
When “number of” is preceded by the article “a”, the verb must be in plural form.

The number of participants ~were~ surprising (nonstandard).
The number of participants *was* surprising (standard).
When “number of” is preceded by “the”, the verb should be singular. Note, however, that the noun after “number of” must be in plural form whether it is preceded by “a” or “the”.
GAB