In Invitations^x, Numbers^x

Hi, Here are are several suggestions. Best wishes, Clive ____ Put your address in the top right corner, followed by the date. Douwe EgbertsJan HellingsPotaardeBE‑1850 GRIMBERGEN Selfridges400 Oxford StreetAttention: Mrs Suzanne DarcyGB‑LONDON W1A 1AB Your message from your reference...

Douwe Egberts Jan Hellings Potaarde BE‑1850 GRIMBERGEN Selfridges Mrs Suzanne Darcy 400 Oxford Street GB‑LONDON W1A 1AB Your message from your reference our reference Grimbergen ...

Dearest Peter, Wow!!! I’m so thrilled by your “surprise birthday party” for Ann! I’m more than pleased to help you organising the “big event”. Let’s discuss your main ideas. I do agree with you, we need to make sure the people involved will keep the secret. Why don’t you write down a...

First Love It never helped me much that I had only myself to interact with. Life was never the same after coming home from the dorm. Parents were away for a wedding which I had very conveniently avoided. When I walked down to the nearest video store to pick a movie it happened then. It was the...

Hello Anon 1. One of the boxes is open. 2. A large number of invitations were/was sent out. In #1, only one box is open, so the verb is singular. In #2, some people would say "was", and some people would say "were". The "was" party would say that "a large number" was the subject of the...

What is the subject in this sentance, is it 'A (large) number' or 'invitations'?In the sentance: 'One of the boxes is open', the word 'one' is the subject and we make the verb agree so singular 'is'.If 'A (large) number' is the subject then wouldn't the verb need to agree, again singular 'has'?

Ant_222 wrote:Dawnstorm, I don't like syntax-level rules for their formality. What do you think of my explanation? In English number can mean both multiplicity and a number in math sense. In "A number of invitations" the former is the case. «A multiplicity (set) of invitations haS...

Besides Cambridge Advanced Dictionary, which states that "A large number of invitations has been sent" is correct, I cannot find this version in the English usage books that I have.It doesn't match the usage of AmE; maybe it's only used in BrE. For either AmE or BrE, I don't think you can go...

Dawnstorm, I don't like syntax-level rules for their formality. What do you think of my explanation? In English number can mean both multiplicity and a number in math sense. In "A number of invitations" the former is the case. «A multiplicity (set) of invitations haS been sent to...

Inchoateknowledge wrote:"depending on how I interpret" -- you mean I have the choice to adjust the verb form to the notion the subject suggests to me? and that it is a matter of taste? Invitations is the subject, thus, strictly speaking, only plural verb form is okay here. This is what I call...