Learn English – The bulk of assets was /were

subject-verb-agreement

I understand that assets is in plural form but not sure about the following sentences:-

The bulk of its assets were tied in property

or

The bulk of its assets was tie in property.

Best Answer

I don't think there are hard and fast rules here. However, I think most native language speakers would make a distinction based on whether 'bulk' was explicitly referring to a count noun or a mass noun.

Typical count nouns: dolls, houses, people Typical mass nouns: butter, information, music

When I was at the department store I saw dozens of toy cars. The bulk of them were red.

When I was at the festival I heard a lot of music. The bulk of it was awful.

In the first sentence, 'was' is possible, but in my estimate, MUCH less likely, especially in speech:

When I was at the department store I saw dozens of toy cars. The bulk of them was red.

Compare

The majority of the population was/were happy.

The majority of the figurines were broken.

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