Helping my friend write personal statements for law school and this particular sentence is holding up the process:
I think it should be “is” since the object is “number” with “of books” being the prepositional phrase. However, there is a list that follows which kind of throws off that idea of singular versus plural use of verbs.
Which would be more proper?
I think “is” is technically correct, but you might be better off with a re-write to avoid the question entirely. It’s sort of an awkward sentence. It’s also inaccurate, since there is, in fact, not an infinite number of books, seminars, databases, and journals discussing the law. Law is a pretty precise discipline, and I don’t think making hyperbolic statements in one’s personal statement is a very good start.
What about saying “…a nigh infinite…” instead? 
I agree, even the fastest reader would be challenged by an infinite number of books, etc.
The subject is “there” so it’s “is.”
“A large number of enemy troops is shooting at us.” Unless you’re Pogo Possum, you’d never say that as a native speaker of English. Same thing applies here: “There [form of to be]…” constructions have the number of the verb governed by what comes next. And phrases such as “a large number” are structurally singular but plural in meaning, and will normally govern a plural verb.
“There” is an adverb, used idiomatically here. “Blue were her eyes, and red her lips…” is, like “There is/are…” constructions, an inversion where subject follows verb. “Blue” is not the subject, “eyes” is.
Subjects don’t always have to come before the verb. A rewrite of the sentence illustrates that it was one of those inversions originally:
A number of books, seminars, databases, and journals discussing the law are there, [along with] all of the cases.
Edit: Beaten by Polycarp. Must…type…faster!
I totally agree. The sentence should be rewritten. It is BS. A career in law is not particularly the ultimate opportunity for continuous learning. Any field can provide that. For this particular student perhaps it is an “intriguing” opportunity for continuous learning.
Technically “is” is correct, but awkward.
Your friend could just leave off the beginning of the sentence and work with the last part to make it better.
“Is” is correct. While you’re at it, put a comma after statutes. Better yet, rewrite the sentence, for it is awkward. Best yet, revise the content, for it sounds over-hyped and lacks depth. Think about what a law school would hope its graduates would do in their careers.
Additionally, “There is/are” often flags a weak construction. In this case (considering sentence structure only, and not the merits of the concept), you could simply say, “Many books discuss . . .”
(Bit of a sore spot tonight . . . I’m editing a book written by an author who never uses one word where six will do. :rolleyes:)
Leave off the 2nd sentence entirely. It’s redundant, doesn’t add anything of substance, and also, it’s redundant.
That whole quote is kinda :dubious:. Maybe try to re-word somehow or just scrap it. The second sentence in particular is weird–the writer is telling people at a law school that there are lots of books that discuss the law. They already know that. The sentence should instead say something about your friend (i.e., at the easiest level that “I like that” there are lots of books discussing the law, or something).
Moreover, the Law School doesn’t care about your “continuous learning.”
Also, “continuous learning” is reminiscent of “continued education” which I think connotes an aimless dallying. Not a good connotation to put into an essay like this.
-FrL-
I agree with the above feedback, but I’d just like to point out how useless it is when a professor or English teacher writes nothing other than the word “awkward” in the margin of a paper (or “vague”). This doesn’t help in any way, and a developing writer who wrote the sentence in the first place isn’t going to suddenly see how to improve the writing because of the word “awkward” or “vague” in the margin, however awkward or vague the writing actually is. These comments are usually just the refuge of a reader (usually a TA) who is not well-trained in teaching writing and is burdened with a lot of papers to read in a very short period of time, but feels obligated to justify a grade with at least some sort of criticism.
It’s much more helpful (and this should be in the draft stage, when there is the opportunity to rewrite) to pose questions that guide the developing writer to rephrase the writing with the audience’s (not just the reader’s) thoughts in mind. As an example for the first sentence in the OP, I would pose something like this: “What exactly does ‘ultimate’ mean for you? How would you describe the opportunity to study law and its benefits more specifically with regard to your personal goals? With this in mind, change the following sentence so that you continue this line of thought, using ‘I’ as the subject.”
The answer to your question is that “is” is proper since “infinite number” is singular.
To echo everyone else’s concern, I would remove the second part of the question or rewrite the sentence, not only is it redundant, but it is false! There is definitely a vast amount of material available for continuous learning but it is still finite not infinite.
Basic rule of grammar: if you can’t figure out the subject/verb agreement, the sentence needs to be rewritten.
Infinite number is obviously not singular. It is plural. As has been stated, no proper English speaker would use “is” in that sentence.
It’s true that sentences can be rewritten to remove awkwardness. This one should. That’s not an excuse to get the sentence wrong in any form it happens to reside in. Most sentences by most writers are awkward. They still need to be correct.
A number are. Unless you are using number literally, as in “a number is used in arithmetic to represent objects,” any ordinary writer would be hard-pressed to find examples of number used in common English as a singular.
This is not a matter of style and so subject to opinion, as these questions usually are. “Is” is wrong. Flatly and unequivocally.
It’s definitely “are” for the reasons above, and also because “is” just sounds so horribly wrong to my ears. Who talks like that? Anyhow, here’s a source. It includes the following tip from Fowler:
The cite goes on to further say that this is not an instance of American vs. UK usage (as some collective noun constructions are), citing the Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers which contains the following: “The expression the number takes a singular verb, but a number takes a plural verb.”
Quoted for truth.
“A number of soldiers **are **heading to Afghanistan.”
Subjects do not present in a prepositional phrase, so “of soldiers” can be struck through. Number/are.
Vis-a-vis writing “awkward” in the margin:
I’m guilty of that, but I always try to suggest a better construction. The problem, as the poster notes, is that we have about 100 papers to grade several times through the course of the semester, and though I’d love to be able to write long comments, it just can’t be done.
My solution is to make a note, and then when I pass the papers back, I call each student individually to my desk, show them their rubric/grade, and then walk through the paper with them, explaining my notes and answering any questions. They then have the ability to revise and resubmit for a higher grade. Not a perfect solution, but an acceptable compromise.
Sorry but in this case any proper English speaker would find you flatly and equivocally wrong!
Although, it describes plurality, the word ‘infinite’ is singular, as is the word ‘number’. The term “infinite number” is singular and describes one number, albeit of infinite proportions, but it is still only one number,
And that number is?
…wait for it …get it?..aha…infinity.
Try substituting a finite number instead of an “infinite number” and you’ll see.
Granted, the sentence is so badly written that I think the “IS vs. ARE” debate is the least of its problems.