prepositions - Technicalities about "%"?


Usage of "%"


I'm almost positive it's a prepositional phrase since it's really means "per cent" or "per 100".


So in a sentence like:



90% of my street are doing lawn work.



It would be "are" and not "is" because both "%" and "of my street" are prepositional phrases and therefore cannot contain the subject.


Am I right?



Answer



Like a lot of, something like 90% of functions not so much as a preposition as it does a premodifier. And premodifiers work like adjectives. They do not change the head noun, which remains the grammatical subject and still must be agree with the verb in number.



  • People are coming.
    Trouble is avoided.

  • A lot of people are coming.
    A lot of trouble is avoided.

  • Ninety percent of the people are coming.
    Ninety percent of the trouble is avoided.

  • One percent of the people are coming.
    One percent of the trouble is avoided.


As you see, you can remove the leading a lot of or the X% of, and nothing changes. Like adjectives, these premodifiers do not change the grammatical subject or influence the verb. The head noun does not change.


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