1 Out of 2 “Are,” or 1 Out of 2 “Is”?

Which is correct: “1 out of 2 people are,” or “1 out of 2 people is”?

Here’s the answer from Colleen Newvine, the product manager of the A.P. Stylebook:

There often are gray areas with no absolute right or wrong (or at least, strongly divided opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong). These fall in that category.

Either can be OK. Some very formal approaches to grammar argue that “1” is the subject and thus the verb should be singular. But many grammar experts emphasize what’s called notional agreement: When the agreement between a subject and a verb is determined by meaning rather than formal grammatical rules.

In this example, I’d say that clearly the meaning is plural. I’d write “1 out of 2 people are.”

On a side note, see the entry for “ratios.” It has an example of using the numeral 1, rather than one, in this construction.