is there any difference ?

[dawoodusmani]

Originally Posted by Soup

Hi rj1948

The main verb is at the end of the sentence:

Ex: The number [of employees who were present] was small.

Thanks for supporting my answer.
Dawood

[dawoodusmani]

Originally Posted by rj1948

"A number of ..." usually requires a plural verb. In "A number
of employees were present", it's the employees who were present, not
the number. "A number of" is just a fuzzy quantifier. ("A number
of..." may need a singular in the much rarer contexts where it does
not function as a quantifier: "A number of this magnitude requires
5 bytes to store.")

On the other hand, "the number of..." always takes the singular:
"The number of employees who were present was small." Here, it's
the number that was small, not the employees.
Hope this helps!
Dawood

If your interpretation is correct ,why do you use 'were' in the above sentence?

If my sentence confuses you, just omit the defining clause "who were present", then there will be no confusion.
Dawood

[rj1948]

A number of=some.So it should take plural verb.
Here "number "does not mean numeral.

Thank you dawood.I'm not confused.

[dawoodusmani]

Originally Posted by rj1948

A number of=some.So it should take plural verb.
Here "number "does not mean numeral.

Thank you dawood.I'm not confused.

You're welcome. Keep it up!
Cheers!
Dawood

[rj1948]

Thank you ,Dawood.
THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES/REASONS---SINGULAR.So it takes
singular verb.
A NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES/REASONS---PLURAL.So it takes plural verb.
With regards,Dawood.