ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: terrorists

New2grammar — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:34:55 GMT

Got it. Thanks, Yoong Liat.

Re: terrorists

Yoong Liat — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:33:08 GMT

Hi New2grammar

I think the Americans would use 'was' despite the presence of 'they'.

In fact, in BrE some grammarians prescribe 'was'. However, the majority say that it should be 'were' to be consistent with the plural pronouns.

A team of soldiers was on a mission to capture or kill Al-Qaeda members in a remote village in Afghanistan. It was really dark in that area and they had to put on night vision goggles when they went into a suspected hideout

Re: terrorists

New2grammar — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:14:42 GMT

That's really interesting. Do you know what an American would say? Would they make the tenses consistent like British do?

Re: terrorists

Yoong Liat — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:09:48 GMT

New2grammar
A team of soldiers were on a mission to capture or kill Al-Qaeda members in a remote village in Afghanistan. It was really dark in that area and they had to put on night vision goggles when they went into a suspected hideout. What they didn't know was the insurgents were waiting inside to ambush them. When the team had entered the house through a narrow corridor, the terrorists came out and opened fire from behind a fortified bunker.

Are there any mistakes?
Thanks.

26TM wrote: A team (being a collective noun) of soldiers" is sometimes followed by a singular verb which is not so suitable for your case.

In BrE, it is fine to use 'they' with a collective.

A team of soldiers were on a mission to capture or kill Al-Qaeda members in a remote village in Afghanistan. It was really dark in that area and they had to put on night vision goggles when they went into a suspected hideout

were. they, they (all plural, so they are consistent)

Re: terrorists

New2grammar — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:10:52 GMT

Thanks, 26TM for the interesting points.

Re: terrorists

26TMNTJG2PG — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:54:21 GMT

None, but to be hypercritical, I would like to say:

"A team (being a collective noun) of soldiers" is sometimes followed by a singular verb which is not so suitable for your case.

In a "fortified bunker", 'fortified' is tautologous since 'bunker' has in its meaning the element of fortification, but I have no objection to its use here because like the term free gifts (another tautology), I have seen such term being used frequently.

terrorists

New2grammar — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:11:24 GMT

A team of soldiers were on a mission to capture or kill Al-Qaeda members in a remote village in Afghanistan. It was really dark in that area and they had to put on night vision goggles when they went into a suspected hideout. What they didn't know was the insurgents were waiting inside to ambush them. When the team had entered the house through a narrow corridor, the terrorists came out and opened fire from behind a fortified bunker.

Are there any mistakes?
Thanks.