Singular versus plural

Effective communication is better achieved with the use of a proper language.


History has shown that there has been more than a hundred distinct banking crisis in the recent two decades.

The above sentence is found in an article appearing in a popular national English daily.

'A hundred' is more than one in number. However, a singular verb is used before such a number and followed by a singular noun thereafter.

Rules of grammar require that the said sentence be recast to make it proper: History has shown that there have been more than a hundred distinct banking crises in the recent two decades.

There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
-- Oscar Wilde