Which one is right to say, A crowd of people was standing. or A crowd of people were standing.?

Answer 1

While I agree with Warren D's

"It is grammatically more correct to say a crowd of people was standing, however... I would avoid this wording because it sounds wrong no matter how you say it."

I think a better choice for rewording it would be "A crowd of people stood." if it would fit the context, thereby avoiding the passive tense (no, not just because MS grammar checker says so...). This keeps the words in basically the same order in the sentence, keeping the emphasis on the word of your choice, while eliminating the awkward wording for the single versus plural problem.

Answer 2

It is grammatically more correct to say a crowd of people was standing, however--as a broadcast journalist--I would avoid this wording because it sounds wrong no matter how you say it.

I would re-word the statement: "People were standing in a crowd." Okay, it's a cop-out, but what the heck? I've done lots of cop-outs in my lifetime as a somewhat professional writer.

Answer 3

In the US, "crowd" is considered singular, so we'd say "the crowd was standing". In the UK, however, a "crowd" is plural, thus is would be a "crowd were standing".

Answer 4

When you're not sure, take out the descriptor - in this case 'of people'

A crowd was standing
A crowd were standing

Obviously then, it's the first.

Answer 5

u just say CROWD. Coz it inslf means large no of people gathered together.
u can say there was crowd.

Answer 6

A crowd is a singular word. There could be more than one crowd.

So, 'a croud was standing ...' is correct, and 'several crowds were standing..." is correct too.

Answer 7

I agree with distractionfigure, except the part about "was standing" being passive. It's active voice, past progressive (aka past continuous).

Answer 8

your point !