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La plupart des clients remercient le gérant.

La plupart des clients remercient le gérant.
Most of the customers thank the manager.
From Lesson 268:Collective quantities (la plupart de)·French

Questions & Answers about La plupart des clients remercient le gérant.

'La plupart' is a singular phrase. Why is the verb 'remercient' in the plural form?
Even though la plupart is technically singular, when it is followed by a plural noun like des clients, the verb agrees with the plural noun. So we use the 'they' form of the verb, remercient, because the action is being done by multiple customers.
Why is it 'des clients' and not just 'de clients'? Doesn't 'la plupart' act like other quantity phrases?
Unlike quantity phrases such as beaucoup de or un peu de which drop the definite article (the), la plupart always keeps it. Because it means 'most OF THE', the preposition de combines with the plural article les to become des. If it were 'a lot', it would be beaucoup de clients, but here it must be la plupart des clients.
What is the root of the noun 'le gérant'?
Le gérant comes from the verb gérer, which means 'to manage'. When you change a French verb into its present participle form (ending in -ant, like 'managing' in English), it can often be used as a noun to describe the person performing that action.
Do I pronounce the '-ent' at the end of 'remercient'?
No. In French, the -ent ending on third-person plural verbs is completely silent. You pronounce remercient exactly as if it were the singular form remercie.

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