I recently came across a problem in SC GRAIL ( Q 61 ) that tested has/have usage in "a variety of ..." Below is the explanation from experts. Please let me know if you think otherwise.
Contrary to popular belief, video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday
evening, in fact, a variety of recent studies have begun to demonstrate their
teaching potential.
A. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening, in fact, a variety
of recent studies have begun to demonstrate
B. video games aren't just to kill an idle Thursday evening, but a variety of
recent studies, in fact, have begun to demonstrate
C. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening; in fact, a variety
of recent studies has begun to demonstrate
D. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening; in fact, a variety
of recent studies have begun to demonstrate
E. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening, and a variety of
recent studies have begun in demonstration of
'Variety' is a collective noun and colletive nouns can take both singular and plural verbs dependng on the context.
In this sentence the emphasis is on the studies since it is the studies (and not the 'variety') that have begun to demonstrate. In most cases (but not all) variety will take a plural verb because the empahsis is on the 'variety' i.e. each component and not on the 'variety' as a whole.
Contrary to popular belief, video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday
evening, in fact, a variety of recent studies have begun to demonstrate their
teaching potential.
A. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening, in fact, a variety
of recent studies have begun to demonstrate
B. video games aren't just to kill an idle Thursday evening, but a variety of
recent studies, in fact, have begun to demonstrate
C. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening; in fact, a variety
of recent studies has begun to demonstrate
D. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening; in fact, a variety
of recent studies have begun to demonstrate
E. video games aren't just for killing an idle Thursday evening, and a variety of
recent studies have begun in demonstration of
'Variety' is a collective noun and colletive nouns can take both singular and plural verbs dependng on the context.
In this sentence the emphasis is on the studies since it is the studies (and not the 'variety') that have begun to demonstrate. In most cases (but not all) variety will take a plural verb because the empahsis is on the 'variety' i.e. each component and not on the 'variety' as a whole.
