English grammar question: is this right even though it sounds wrong?

Were turning to the left. .. is what I would say.

“Were” turning to the left. IDK. Share with with Gail.

It’s very tempting to say “were” because the verb directly follows the plural “students.” But the verb actually has to agree with “bulk,” I believe, which I think is singular. This one is messing with me.

”“The use of a plural noun after bulk, when it has the meaning ‘majority’, although common, is considered by some to be incorrect and should be avoided. This usage is most commonly encountered, according to the Bank of English, when referring to funds and profits: the bulk of our profits stem from the sale of beer. The synonyms majority and most would work better in this context.”

Source

Ah, okay! That would certainly resolve this awkward sentence.

Just wondering if the fat is turning left while the thin parts are turning right.

Even though it may be incorrect, I would probably go with were for sound and sense as you would with majority and most. I’m not always so up on my grammatical rules; I tend to go with what feels and sounds right in many cases.

I totally agree with @janbb. Communication is the goal, and if that means having or wanting to stray from man-made grammar rules (which are changing constantly, anyway), so be it.

Nonetheless, the sentence “The bulk of the students was turning to the left” is awkward (I think you already know that) and should be revised to something smoother… like “Most of the students were turning left.”

“Bulk” is not singular. In this instance, it means the majority of the students turned left. And the proper wording is “The bulk of the students were turning to the left.”

Were.

I agree with @kritiper that in this sentence ‘bulk’ is actually modifying or qualifying the noun “students”, and the students were turning.

OK, yeah, good points. Even if @marinelife is correct and “bulk” isn’t supposed to be used in this context, you could replace “bulk” with “majority” and the same question would arise – is majority a singular or plural word? But I’m fairly confident that “the majority of students were” is correct, so the same probably applies in the “bulk” situation.

I would recast the sentence, because even though “bulk … was” are the operative words, it’s not “a bulk” of individuals that moves. “Most students” would seem to me to be a preferable choice off the top of my head.

“Mass” is somewhat more preferable to “bulk” in this sentence, but I still do not care to characterize groups of individuals as cohesive blocs.

Right, I know the wording is bad. This is not even a sentence I am using for anything. It was just an example to illustrate my question.

@marinelife Hm…I think majority shares the same ambiguity as bulk. It can be singular as in one group, or plural referring to everyone.
The majority of kids prefer chocolate ice cream.
The majority is labeled in red on the diagram.

Without consulting any references, I would say that bulk should generally not be used with count nouns. Use majority or most, as was said above. Majority can take a singular or plural verb depending on what is intended. When it’s a synonym for most, it takes a plural. When it refers to a collective unity, it takes a singular.

“Most of the kids leave early.”
“51% of the kids leave early.”
“A majority of the kids leave early.”
but
“A clear majority has rejected the proposal.”
“A majority is required to avoid a run-off election. A plurality is insufficient.”

^(That’s US English. UK English is different on this point.)

@Dutchess_III Careful, she’ll probably just tell you that you spelled with twice. :D

I agree with @kritiper in this instance, the word bulk refers to more than one, as it refers to most of the students, which is more than one. So the sentence should be written with were and not was.

The rule that I learned is that collective nouns like bulk can be considered either singular or plural depending on how the term is used in the sentence. I did a Web search to confirm. Dictionary.com on collective nouns In this case I would go with the plural.

From The Economist style guide:
A rule for majority. When it is used in an abstract sense, it takes the singular; when it is used to denote the elements making up the majority, it should be plural. A two-thirds majority is needed to amend the constitution but A majority of the Senate were opposed.

So in your example ‘were’ is correct

Ha ha! Ha ha! @Symbeline! @Symbeline! No doubt. No doubt! And she’ll never let me forget it, either.

@CugelTheClueless I think I disagree that “bulk” should not be used with count nouns. Bulk means “most of,” or “the majority.” “The bulk of the apples had gone bad.”

The word “bulk” is singular, and requires a singular noun. Even if it is perceived as a collective noun, it still is a singular subject, to be used with a singular verb. Some similar examples:

The majority of the members was upholding the vote.
The gaggle of geese was landing on the lake.
The fluther of jellies was rarely in agreement.

3. majority, mass, most, body, quantity, best part, major part, lion’s share, better part, generality, preponderance, main part, plurality, nearly all, greater number The vast bulk of imports and exports are carried by sea.

@Dutchess_III ok, but I don’t think we would say “the bulk of the apples… ” if we were only talking about, say, a dozen. We might use it for quantities that are too big to count easily, or maybe are measured by weight rather than individual units. And I don’t think we would use it for people.

From @ibstubro‘s link Free Dictionary.com (citing Collins Online Dictionary:
Usage: The use of a plural noun after bulk was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable

It seems “bulk” is one of those words which show that English is not a dead language, but a living, growing and evolving one!