Quebec French Syntax - Number

Number

On the other hand, many Quebecers in informal context will decide on the agreement with collective nouns based on semantics rather than morphology. That is to say, for instance, that a verb whose grammatical subject is le monde (people, folks) may appear in the 3rd person plural because le monde designates multiple people although it is singular: le monde là-dedans sont en train de chiâler (the people in there are complaining).

Read more about this topic:  Quebec French Syntax

Famous quotes containing the word number:

    There is something tragic about the enormous number of young men there are in England at the present moment who start life with perfect profiles, and end by adopting some useful profession.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    God ... created a number of possibilities in case some of his prototypes failed—that is the meaning of evolution.
    Graham Greene (1904–1991)

    States strong enough to do good are but few.
    Their number would seem limited to three.
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)