Hey I was refering to Mahatten Sentence correction where I have a doubt in the subject-verb section. Initially its mentioned that words like majority and minority can be plural or singular based on case to case
eg:
The majority of students in this class are hardworkers. (here plural)

The student majority is opposed to D€@th penalty (here singular)

Now in the exercise setion it gives:

A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling.

Now this sentence is correct where verb used is singular, I want to know why? Shouldnt it be plural for commuters as in case of students above?

Does it have anything to do with 'The majority' and 'A majority' as in case of 'A number of' and ' The number of'? Would appreciate if you can clear my concept here.

Also another related observation:

collective nouns are usually singular, however if each member acts independently then you can use a plural verb with a collective noun:
eg. The jury have argued for several hours.
eg: His family have settled on three continents.


However, where its acting together as a collective noun its singular, such as:

The jury has returned a verdict.

His family has an ancestoral villa in Europe