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Which of the following sentences is correct?

"Many a girls was appearing in the examination."

"Many a girl was appearing in the examination."

Maryam
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Hassan Alvi
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    See [this](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/4904/many-a-year-vs-many-years), and [this](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/52731/many-a-time-means-many-times) and [this](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/67294/why-is-many-a-man-singular-while-many-men-plural) and [so on](https://ell.stackexchange.com/search?q=Many+a) and so on.... – green_ideas Nov 29 '17 at 00:24

4 Answers4

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Many a/an...

The quick answer to the question is "Many a girl" is correct, and "Many a girls" is incorrect.

The fixed expression many a/an... is more formal than the single word many, and it is much less common. Many a/an... is used mainly in literary writing and newspapers. Like the adjective and pronoun many, many a/an... is used to indicate a large number of something. However, it takes a singular noun, which can be followed by a singular verb.

Here are some examples:

  1. It remained a mystery for many a year. [=for many years]
  2. I've been there many a time. [=many times]
  3. Many a politician has promised to make changes. [=many politicians have]

Source: Merrian-Webster Learner's Dictionary.

Andrew Tobilko
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Caesar Grubel
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Many a girl or the second option is correct. Many a always uses a singular noun and is more formal than the word many. It is not much common and is used usually in newspapers and famous writings. Many a is used to indicate a large number of something.

Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini
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Rudrakshi Nanda
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If you want to say many a x, you need to use a singular noun. So many a girl would be correct. However, if you want, you could say many girls appeared / are appearing instead. if you take out the "a / an", many becomes plural and you can then use plural nouns like "girls" or "cars".

tyler
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The second sentence is correct.

Many a girl was appearing in the examination.

"Many a" is always followed by a singular noun/ pronoun/ verb.

Eddie Kal
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Shivani Loukik Dhawan
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