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I wonder when actor is a 3rd person singular number in this sentence, verb should be ending with the suffix -s or -es or not.

Whats the rule?

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    This isn't referring to a specific group of 10 Americans, one of whom believes a certain idea: here "1 in 10 Americans" means "10% of all Americans" (roughly 30 million people), hence why the plural form is used.
    – psmears
    Commented Nov 25, 2021 at 11:24
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    @psmears Simple agreement dictates that the verb is plural because the head of the NP is the plural "Americans". However, singular override is possible, presumably due to the presence of singular "one".
    – BillJ
    Commented Nov 25, 2021 at 13:08
  • You've approved a partly wrong answer. There is no 'adjectival phrase in your example. "One in ten" is a determinative phrase determining the nominal, the plural "Americans".
    – BillJ
    Commented Nov 26, 2021 at 7:22

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Both a singular and plural verb are possible.

One {in ten Americans} thinks that ... Here "in 10 Americans" is a non-defining adjectival phrase modifying the subject "One". This is based upon taking a random sample of any 10 Americans of whom one individual "thinks that..."

{One in ten Americans} think that ... Here "in 10 Americans" is a defining adjectival phrase modifying the subject "One", and the subject is "One in ten Americans" which is a numerous group of about 30 million.

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  • That has to be the weirdest analysis I've seen in a long while!
    – BillJ
    Commented Nov 25, 2021 at 13:06
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[One in ten Americans] think(s) HTML is a sexually transmitted disease.

The head of the bracketed NP is the plural "Americans", so the simple agreement rule would suggest that plural "think" is correct.

However, the verb can be singular as well as plural, the optional singular override probably being motivated by the presence of "one".

Edit: For those interested in the syntax, "one in ten" is a DP (determinative phrase) in which the PP "in ten" is in post-head modifier function. The DP functions as determiner in the NP subject "one in ten Americans", whose head is "Americans".

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  • Hi, I am curious about one thing. With 'every' inserted, Is this still the case? For example, 'one out of every nine words', in this phrase, 'one out of every nine' is a DP, 'out of every nine' is a PP, and 'words' is a head?
    – Mcreaper
    Commented Apr 4 at 21:07

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