Search results for 'tag:Nouns tag:Compound subjects' matching tags 'Nouns' and 'Compound subjects'

Re: Need advice on subject verb agreement, thx soooo much! =)

CalifJim — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:14:18 GMT

adviseeker
.... should use "was" or "were" in the following sentence? ...

I saw there (was or were) still melamine contaminated milk and dairy products on the shelves.

Not even the experts agree on this. I recommend making the agreement only with the first noun after the verb.

There was still melamine contaminated milk and dairy products on the shelves.

There were still dairy products and melamine contaminated milk on the shelves.

There were dairy products on the shelves.

There was contaminated milk on the shelves.

There is nothing wrong, however, with a plural verb with a following compound subject, if you prefer that method.

There are a pen and a pencil on the table.

Can neither modify a noun?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:11:28 GMT

Adverb

Not standard same as either (sense 4) [Old English nÄwther]

USAGE: A verb following a compound subject that uses neither...(nor) should be in the singular if both subjects are in the singular: neither Jack nor John has done the work.

Isn't it an adverb in this case?
How is it possible?

Subject or object pronoun?

Philip — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:50:43 GMT

During my recent trip through western Canada, I came across a number of people who used 'him/her' as the subject pronoun when used in a compound subject: "him and his uncle arrived later"; "him and his son did such-and-such"; "her and her friends had tea at the Banff Springs Hotel".

I can't say that I never heard what I would call the correct form, but the shock of hearing this from supposedy educated, articulate speakers (tour guide, RCMP officer) made me wonder if it is more common in Canada than in the U.S. (And, come to think of it, I have a couple of friends in Vancouver who use it quite regularly.) I'm hoping it isn't considered to be "correct".

Thanks to Clive and others for their opinions.

Re: The "boy and girls" rule

Mister Micawber — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:33:08 GMT

The 'rule' is that the verb agrees in number with the proximal (nearest) noun of the compound subject. But it doesn't work with 'and'-- it works with 'or':

A boy or three girls are meeting me at the station.
Three girls or a boy is meeting me at the station.

But:

Three girls and a boy are meeting me at the station.

Re: Noun phrases

Grammar Geek — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:10:20 GMT

Yes Are ~~([or is??)~~ the following acceptable?

Passing exams IS important to me. Yes

Passing exams and enjoying college ARE important to me. Yes

Supporting the Dallas Cowboys IS importing to Matt and Greg Yes

Playing football and basketball MEANS a lot to Greg The next two depend if you think of the playing as the main verb, with two things to play, or if you think of playing football and playing basketball as a compound subject.

Playing football and playing basketball MEAN a lot to Greg

Re: learning and wisdom

Taka — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:46:52 GMT

I had these exchanges before:

Taka wrote:

My dictionary says:

''Gerund AND gerund' , 'infinitive AND infinitive' and 'abstract noun AND abstract noun' are generally treated as singular when they are used as the compound subject of a sentence.

Do you think this explanation is wrong?

Grammar Geek wrote:
I can see it in the abstract nouns: Happiness and prosperity is awaiting you... But I can't see it in the gerunds. Let's see if someone else has another view.

http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheSubject/2/dlgzb/Post.htm

Re: The subject

Grammar Geek — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 02:25:55 GMT

Before you go too far, Mr. P, would you care to comment on the side issues that has come up? The use of a singular verb when there is a compound subject of gerunds or abstract nouns?

Re: The subject

Taka — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 18:28:53 GMT

Grammar Geek wrote:
Like "Running and swimming is my favorite form of exercise"? No. That would be "...are my favorite forms of exercise."

This is a bit getting off the point of the original question, but let me ask.

My dictionary says:

''Gerund AND gerund' , 'infinitive AND infinitive' and 'abstract noun AND abstract noun' are generally treated as singular when they are used as the compound subject of a sentence.

Do you think this explanation is wrong?

Re: There is / are a ...

Mr Patrick — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:57:26 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:

There is a dog and two cats in his house.

There are a dog and two cats in his house.

Which is the correct sentence or are both okay?

Hi Yoong Liat

(should I say 'Hi Yoong' or 'Hi Liat'?)

Let's start with a couple of links to my favourite sources:

http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/060.html/#COMPOUNDSUBJ

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm

According to the first text, there are two rules that seem to clash in your example. One rule says that compound subjects connected by and should take a plural verb. The other rule says that often a verb will take the number of the closest noun.

I think that in your example the first rule will take precedence over the second, and therefore the verb has to be in plural. I would not accept the singular form in a student's essay.

Having said that, maybe style considerations can come to our rescue. Why not rephrase the sentence? The meaning remains the same and all rules are now satisfied: There are two cats and a dog in his house.

Regards, Patrick

Re: There were or was?

Inchoateknowledge — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:30:22 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:

According to one of my books on English usage, it should be "There was a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England." This is a BrE usage rule. In AmE, either 'was' and 'were' can be used.

Please note that this rule applies when the sentence starts with There.

It is a matter of opinion -- whether you see an ellipsis or a compound subject.

There were (a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face), on the throne of England."

a king (with a large jaw) and a queen (with a plain face) = two modified nouns joined with a conjunction word: and. (compound noun).In this case, were is the only possible option.

There was a king with a large jaw and (there was) a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England."

There was is a grammatical structure used twice to balance the sentence structure.