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 are crimes which become innocent and even glorious through their splendor, number and excess.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“States strong enough to do good are but few.
Their number would seem limited to three.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“He is the greatest artist who has embodied, in the sum of his works, the greatest number of the greatest ideas.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)