June 24 05

A common enough problem:
'a lot of toys were scattered around'. Agreed that 'a lot' is a collective noun, in that it means many. Is the subject of the sentence really 'toys'? That's the question, but 'a lot' might be a consignment, e.g. 'a lot of books was on auction'

The word "toys" is not the subject in either example, but "a lot" is in both.

'a lot of books was on auction' (< lot number six, for example)

'a lot of books were on auction' (< many books)

"Were" is possible in the second example, not because "books" is the subject, but because "a lot" can be both plural or singular.

The shoal of fish was moving north.
The shoal of fish were darting in all directions.

There is a section on this here.