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La maggioranza ha deciso di restare.

La maggioranza ha deciso di restare.
The majority decided to stay.
From Lesson 245:Singular agreement for collective nouns (la gente, il gruppo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about La maggioranza ha deciso di restare.

Why is it ha deciso (singular) when "the majority" refers to many people?
In Italian, collective nouns representing a group of people, like la maggioranza, are strictly singular. Even though the word refers to multiple individuals, you must always use the third-person singular form of the verb (ha). English speakers sometimes use plural verbs with group nouns, but Italian never does.
Why is there a di before restare?
When the verb decidere (to decide) is followed directly by another action in its dictionary form (an infinitive like restare), you must link them with the preposition di. The pattern to remember is decidere di fare qualcosa (to decide to do something).
Since la maggioranza is feminine, shouldn't the past participle be decisa?
No, it stays deciso. In this past tense, past participles only change their endings to match the subject if the helper verb is essere. Because the helper verb here is avere (ha), the participle deciso keeps its default -o ending, regardless of the subject's gender.
Is there another common way to say "the majority" in Italian?
Yes, you will very frequently hear la maggior parte. Just like la maggioranza, it is a singular feminine collective noun, so the sentence would still take the exact same singular verb: La maggior parte ha deciso di restare.

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