La gente, la mayoría, todo el mundo: words about the many in the singular
Talking about society trips people up on the number of the verb, not on the words themselves. For example: “La gente de aquí es muy hospitalaria” — People here are very welcoming. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Talking about society trips people up on the number of the verb, not on the words themselves.
La gente is singular. It is not 'people' but 'the public': la gente piensa que es caro. La gente piensan is wrong. When you need 'people' in the plural, use las personas.
La mayoría works both ways. The word itself is singular. But with de and a plural noun, agreement follows sense: la mayoría de los vecinos votó and votaron are both right.
Todo el mundo is 'everyone', and singular too. Word for word it is 'all the world': todo el mundo lo sabe. Beside it stands cada uno: cada uno paga lo suyo.
Table
| expression | verb number | example | note |
|---|---|---|---|
| la gente | singular | la gente piensa | never plural |
| las personas | plural | las personas piensan | when you need 'people' |
| la mayoría de + plural | either | votó / votaron | both are correct |
| la mayoría (without de) | singular | la mayoría está | only this way |
| todo el mundo | singular | todo el mundo lo sabe | means 'everyone' |
| cada uno | singular | cada uno paga lo suyo | means 'each' |
| an abstraction | — | la pobreza, el paro | the article is obligatory |
By example
- La gente de aquí es muy hospitalariaPeople here are very welcoming
- La mayoría de los habitantes trabaja fuera del puebloMost of the inhabitants work outside the village
- Todo el mundo sabe que el paro juvenil es el problemaEveryone knows youth unemployment is the problem
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
La gente, la mayoría, todo el mundo: how does it work in Spanish?
Talking about society trips people up on the number of the verb, not on the words themselves.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“La gente de aquí es muy hospitalaria” — People here are very welcoming. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.