Most of its population live/lives

[joham]

Most of its population live/lives in cities or close to them.
One third of its population is/are farm workers.

Are both verb forms fine with the subject? Which is better or preferred?

Thank you in advance.

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=joham;831660]Most of its population live/lives in cities or close to them.
One third of its population is/are farm workers.

NOT A TEACHER


(1) I cannot answer your question with confidence, but I can share some of my research:

(a) Mesdames Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman's admirable The Grammar Book (1983 edition, pages 38- 39) tells us that:

Fractions and percentages take ... either the singular or the plural ... when they modify a collective noun.

The two scholars give these examples:

One tenth of the population is Christian/ are Christians.

Ten percent of the population is Christian/ are Christians.

(2) Can we conclude, therefore, that the "correct" sentence would be:

One third of its population are farm workers.

(3) Regarding your first sentence, I dare not venture a guess, but I shall offer these items:

(a) I did some googling, and I noticed examples of "Most of the

population work/works ...."

(b) Back in 2006, I copied this sentence from the Los Angeles Times (supposedly one

of our better newspapers): "50% of the population lives in poverty."

(c) I once heard a well-known (and well-educated?) TV journalist say this:

"80% of the population disagrees."

(d) I once copied this sentence from a Los Angeles Times columnist: "The overwhelming majority of Third World inhabitants still lives outside urban centers." (I guess that we can say that "majority" = "most.")

(3) I shall sit back and wait for the teachers to join the discussion. Thank you for your great question.

[billmcd]

Most of its population live/lives in cities or close to them.
One third of its population is/are farm workers.

Are both verb forms fine with the subject? Which is better or preferred?

Thank you in advance.

Nice research by The Parser. My personal reaction if I had read either verb form with your examples, would be 'no reaction'. That is, I would not have considered either form wrong.

[Tdol]

They both work for me too.