Agreement between subject and verb

[dungdinh2002]

Hi there.

We have these two following structures:
A number of + plural noun + plural verb...
The number of + plural noun + singular verb...

And here is the sentence that makes me confused:
"The number of people who understand his ideas exceed his expectations." [http://esl.about.com/od/advancedgrammar/a/sentrans_one_2.htm]
because "The number of people" is the subject of the verb "exceed". I think it should be "exceeds" instead of "exceed".

Please tell me the correct one. Thank you very much.

[bhaisahab]

It should be 'exceeds'.

[RainmanEverson]

Hi there.

We have these two following structures:
A number of + plural noun + plural verb...
The number of + plural noun + singular verb...

And here is the sentence that makes me confused:
"

The number of people who understand his ideas exceed his expectations." [http://esl.about.com/od/advancedgrammar/a/sentrans_one_2.htm]
because "The number of people" is the subject of the verb "exceed". I think it should be "exceeds" instead of "exceed".

Please tell me the correct one. Thank you very much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is "Exceeded" ? - His expectations (plural) are exceeded; thus, if you simplify, "The number of people exceeds his expectations" the correct usage becomes more clear.... or at least I hope so.