Effort versus efforts

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

An effort”is saying there was one effort; "efforts” means that there were more than one.

Should it be “efforts” means that there WAS more than one?

Thanks.

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2

Both are used depending on the context.

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“Was more than one” sounds natural to me.

I think ‘means’ is the verb that matches the plural ‘efforts’.

There is an implied singular “effort” at the end of the sentence.

‘Efforts’ means there was more than one ‘effort’.

Efforts — Subject
Means — Verb
There was more than one [ effort ] — Noun phrase used as the object.

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4

Most usually, the phrase ‘More than one’, which tends to sound plural, is followed by a singular verb; for example, ‘More than one page is missing from this book.’, ‘More than one application has been received today.’

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