Relative clause - "...one of those people who make” or “makes"? [duplicate]

Question

Which one is correct?

He is not one of those people who make/makes you angry

Does "make" refer to "one"? Is there a possibility that "make" refers to "people"?

Can it be something relative?

Answer 1

When you say one of those, what follows is a group. The only thing you need to consider is the phrase that describes the group that comes after those. Since it is a group, the noun is plural.

He is not one of those [plural noun phrase].

If the noun phrase includes a verb, then subject-verb agreement needs to follow the plural conjugation.

So:

He is not one of those [lawyers].
He is not one of those [examples of high society].
He is not one of those [drunken party-goers who stay up all night].

And finally:

He is not one of those [people who make you angry.]

---

Some comments have led me to add more to this.

As for what follows one of those being a plural, what you are doing is saying that X is a single selection from a group of two or more things. It's roughly the equivalent of the phrase one of many.

Some examples show the syntactical problem with using the singular:

✘ I'm eating one of those red jellybean.
✘ I'm eating one of many red jellybean.

✔ I'm eating one of those red jellybeans.
✔ I'm eating one of many red jellybeans.

✘ I'm going to one of those movie.
✘ I'm going to one of many movie.

✔ I'm going to one of those movies.
✔ I'm going to one of many movies.

If it doesn't make sense to use the singular as a general syntactical rule, it shouldn't make sense in any specific case either. (I grant that there are always exceptions, but I'm not aware of any here.)

---

Given that language is fluid, things that sound right to many people, and which are used by many people, become grammatical—even if they didn't start off as so. Further, some things that are not syntactically correct are still semantically fine and used as a matter of normal discourse.

However, in terms of looking at the following, the syntax is wrong—regardless of if you think it's acceptable to phrase them as they are:

• ✘ He is one of those who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother.
• ✘ He is one of many who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother.
   
  
• ✔ He is one of those who have had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star their brother.
• ✔ He is one of many who have had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star their brother.
• ✔ He is someone who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother.

Note that it's semantically ambiguous if what follows the comma is and addition to the entire part before he or if it's included in the description of the group. In this case, since I'm talking about groups, I'm interpreting it as being part of the group—although I'd prefer the comma not be there.

And in another construction:

• ✘ I consider myself one of those women who is a product of her choices, not a victim of her circumstances.
• ✘ I consider myself one of many women who is a product of her choices, not a victim of her circumstances.
   
  
• ✔ I consider myself one of those women who are a product of their choices, not a victim of their circumstances.
• ✔ I consider myself one of many women who are a product of their choices, not a victim of their circumstances.
• ✔ I consider myself a woman who is a product of her choices, not a victim of her circumstances.