Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Dates' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Dates'

Re: majority is or are??

Goodman — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:06:41 GMT

I'll say it depends. It may have to do with what context it's used but by and large, I see it as more frequently used in singular context.

The American Heritage^Â® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

majority

SYLLABICATION:	maÂ·jorÂ·iÂ·ty
PRONUNCIATION:	m-jÃ´r-t, -jr-
NOUN:	Inflected forms: pl. maÂ·jorÂ·iÂ·ties 1. The greater number or part; a number more than half of the total. 2. The amount by which the greater number of votes cast, as in an election, exceeds the total number of remaining votes. 3. The political party, group, or faction having the most power by virtue of its larger representation or electoral strength. 4. Law The status of having reached full legal age, with attendant rights and responsibilities. 5. The military rank, commission, or office of a major. 6. Obsolete The fact or state of being greater; superiority.
ETYMOLOGY:	French majoritÃ©, from Medieval Latin mirits, from Latin mior, greater. See meg- in Appendix I.
USAGE NOTE:	When majority refers to a particular number of votes, it takes a singular verb: Her majority was five votes. His majority has been growing by 5 percent every year. When it refers to a group of persons or things that are in the majority, it may take either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the group is considered as a whole or as a set of people considered individually. So we say The majority elects (not elect) the candidate it wants (not they want), since the election is accomplished by the group as a whole; but The majority of the voters live (not lives) in the city, since living in the city is something that each voter does individually. â¢Majority is often preceded by great (but not by greater) in expressing emphatically the sense of âmost ofâ: The great majority approved. The phrase greater majority is appropriate only when considering two majorities: He won by a greater majority in this election than in the last.

Re: Any other days/day later ?

Philip — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:15:34 GMT

I would say, "be it now or some day later/or at some later date". I just don't like the plural days in your examples.

Re: army vs military

Grammar Geek — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:53:08 GMT

Using my favorite online reference, www.m-w.com:

Main Entry: ²military Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural military also milÂ·iÂ·tarÂ·ies Date: 1709

1: military persons; especially : army officers THIS IS THE RESTRICTED VERSION - ARMY ONLY

2: armed forces THIS IS THE GENERAL VERSION - ALL ARMED FORCES

Main Entry: armed forces
Function: noun plural
: the combined military, naval, and air forces of a nation âcalled also armed services

And here's Army: 1 a: a large organized body of armed personnel trained for war especially on land b: a unit capable of independent action and consisting usually of a headquarters, two or more corps, and auxiliary troops coften capitalized : the complete military organization of a nation for land warfare

I don't know why you thought that army, strictly speaking, referred only the infantry, but you can see that it does say "especially on land" so perhaps that confused you.

A soldier is anyone who serves in the amry. It doesn't matter what his or her job is.

Re: Felt like...

Avangi — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:42:54 GMT

Hi Mad, With this scant context, it could be taken either way. It's pretty confusing.

"Friends" is plural. Was she paired with one particular guy?

Whom is she talking to? Her date??

"Felt" is past tense, but "is" is present tense. Is she still on the date with this guy (or guys) (or girls) when she makes this statement? (like maybe at the very end of it?)

Is Neil her main squeeze? (Sorry, my eyes are getting bad.) Is Nell her main squeeze? Who the h--- is Nell? (Is Lana a guy?)

Anyway, I'm assuming "tonight" is a noun rather than an adverb. "I had to explain about tonight." Not, "Tonight, I felt like I had to explain to Nell."

It's still "tonight" when she makes the statement. It sounds like Nell is not present. If she has already explained to Nell, she must have covered a lot of ground.

But on the other hand, we don't know what it is she wants to explain. Did she feel she had to explain what happened tonight, or did she feel (in the past) that she had to explain that she was planning to go on a date without him/her??

If she's talking to the guy and they're still on the date, maybe it's, "I felt like I had to explain to Nell, but, you know what? I don't feel that way any longer." Maybe she's just telling him that she feels wierd about having felt obligated to tell Nell all her private business.

Or maybe she's warning "him" that this "date" is no secret from Nell, because she felt obligated to tell her/him.

You're asking me, "Did Lana explain to Nell about tonight?" I'll tell you. I don't know.

Re: tardies

Marius Hancu — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:43:40 GMT

Did you follow my instructions? Go to my link above, and select [noun] from the dropdown list. You will find:

-----------------------

Main Entry: ²tardy Function:noun Inflected Form(s):plural tardiesDate:1960

: an instance of being tardy (as to a class)

Re: 'Adjective Phrases' can function as subject

CalifJim — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:44:05 GMT

Stenka25
Printed on the box at the center of a coffeehouse [was/ were] the words "To Insure Promptness."

were.

This is a variant of locative inversion, wherein, for example,

Three small tables were in the corner of the room.

becomes

In the corner of the room were three small tables.

Likewise

The words "To Insure Promptness" were printed on the box at the center of a coffeehouse.

becomes one of several possible inverted structures:

On the box at the center of the coffeehouse were printed the words "To Insure Promptness".

Printed on the box at the center of the coffeehouse were the words "To Insure Promptness".

Agreement between subject and verb does not change in the inverted version.

_______________

Stenka25
Printed on each card was the student's name, the date, and three boxes to check.

were or was.

Again an inverted structure is used. But here you have the choice. You can note the series of subjects and consider the subject plural. In that case, choose were. Or you can use the principle of proximity and make the agreement between the nearest subject (name) and the verb. In that case, choose was. Agreement through proximity is perhaps less formal in style, but it is frequently used.

_______________

Stenka25
Emotionless and expressionless is what I would call him here.

Inverted pseudo-cleft structure.

The base sentence is:

I would call him emotionless and expressionless here.

It becomes, by transforming it into a pseudo-cleft structure:

What I would call him is emotionless and expressionless.

Inversion is then applied to highlight the original object complement emotionless and expressionless, thus:

Emotionless and expressionless is what I would call him here.

But what I would call him here is still the subject, in my opinion.

Re: Passport files of candidates breached

CalifJim — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:33:16 GMT

Way, way, way too much in one post! Maybe next time you could split these into separate posts?

Jackson6612
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the violations of McCain and Clinton's passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the unauthorized access of Obama's records and a separate search was conducted.

Question: When did the officials come to know about the violations of McCain and Clinton's passport files - before or after the unauthorized access of Obama's record?

According to the quoted statement, it was after.

Jackson6612
This contract Question: What is a contract employee? employee has been ...

A contract employee is someone who is not an employee of the organization he is working at. One company hires another company to provide it employees. These are the contract employees. They go to work at any company that needs them, often temporarily.

Jackson6612
"I can assure you that person's going to be at the top of the list of the inspector general when they talk to people, and we are currently reviewing our (disciplinary) options with respect to that person," McCormack said.

Question: In ''they talk to people what does ''they'' stand for - If it stands for inspector general then inspector general is singular person, not plural?

This may be a mistake. they might stand for inspectors general. Or, the speaker may have been thinking that the people who work for the office of the inspector general were going to talk to others during their investigations. So they stands for the people at the office of the inspector general.

Jackson6612
After speaking with Obama, Rice told reporters: "I told him that I was sorry, and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed."

Question: I would have written, ''I myself would be very disturbed if such a thing has happened to me''. Is my way correct? If I am correct, then why is the shorter form used?

The complete form is I myself would be very disturbed if such a thing happened to me. (Not has happened.) The shorter form is used because the longer form is not necessary. Anybody following the story knows exactly what Rice means.

Jackson6612
The State Department said the Justice Department would be monitoring the probe (=an investigation in which many questions are asked to discover the truth about something) in case it needs to get involved.

Question: I couldn't understand the part where it says ''it needs get involved''.

in case the Justice Department needs to get involved / if the Justice Department needs to do something about the situation

Jackson6612
"Have they asked us to become involved â no," Mukasey told reporters during a Friday briefing. "When, as, and if we have a basis for an investigation, including a reference â that is, one basis would be a reference â we could conduct one."

Question: What is a reference? I couldn't find any meaning which fitted in the context. And I also couldn't understand the part ''when, asn and if''.

I'm not sure what they mean by reference. It could be the name of a specific person who acted improperly.

when, as, and if we have ... means when we have ... and as we have ... and if we have ....

Jackson6612
I don't want to speculate but if somebody walked in here with a box full of evidence, they wouldn't be turned away (=to refuse to allow sb/sth to enter a place)."

Question: I would have used ''walks'' instead of ''walked''. What do you say on this? What does ''they'' stand for?

It's a second conditional structure. IF [past] (then) ... WOULD ... they refers to the "somebody that walked in", whoever that may be.

Jackson6612
McCormack declined to name the companies that employed the contractors, despite demands by a senior House Democrat that such information is in the public interest.

Question: What are these companies? What is a House Democrat?

See the explanation above regarding contract employees. A contract employee is also called a contractor. A House Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party who was elected to and is now serving in the United States House of Representatives. (There are a total of 435 representatives.)

Jackson6612
Aside from the file, the information could allow critics to dig deeper into the candidates' private lives. While the file includes date and place of birth, address at time of application and the countries the person has traveled to, the most important detail would be their Social Security number, which can be used to pull credit reports and other personal information.

Question: The part ''aside from the file'' doesn't seem correct in my opinion. I believe it should have been ''aside from the basic personal data. What do you say?
What are credit reports?

Aside from the file means the same thing and is shorter. It's correct as is. Credit reports are reports on a person's finances, particularly from the viewpoint of his ability to pay back any loans.

Jackson6612
The firings (=to be severely criticized for something you have done - used in news reports) and unspecified discipline of the third employee ...

Question: I would have used ''firing'' instead of ''firings''. What do you say?
What does ''unspecified discipline'' mean?

A firing is the dismissal of an employee. The employee is told to leave. He is no longer employed and must try to find another job somewhere else. Two employees were dismissed, that is, fired, so there were two firings. Being fired is a punishment for doing something wrong. Apparently the third employee was not fired for what he did wrong. For his punishment he was disciplined, that is, something was done to punish him. What was done was not specified. In other words, nobody said how the third employee was punished.

Jackson6612
The Washington Times first reported the incident involving Obama.

Question: I would have written: The Washington Times was the first to report.. What do you say?

Your way is certainly also a very good way to state that fact. Both are correct.

Re: Passport files of candidates breached

Marius Hancu — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:15:57 GMT

The (many) people in the inspector general's office:

Question: In ''they talk to people what does ''they'' stand for - If it stands for inspector general then inspector general is singular person, not plural?

Passport files of candidates breached

Jackson6612 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:44:44 GMT

Passport files of candidates breached (=an action that breaks a law, rule, or agreement)
Records of Clinton, McCain, Obama inappropriately (=without legal permissions) accessed, officials say

WASHINGTON - State Department employees snooped (=to try to find out about someone's private affairs by secretly looking in their house, examining their possessions etc) through the passport files of three presidential candidates â Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain â and the department's inspector general is investigating.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the violations of McCain and Clinton's passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the unauthorized access of Obama's records and a separate search was conducted.

Question: When did the officials come to know about the violations of McCain and Clinton's passport files - before or after the unauthorized access of Obama's record?

The incidents raise questions as to whether the information was accessed for political purposes and why two contractors involved in the Obama search were dismissed before investigators had a chance to interview them. It recalled an incident in 1992, when a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted (=to make someone's rank or position lower or less important) over a search of presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport records. At the time, Clinton was challenging (=to question something) President George H.W. Bush.

McCormack said one of the individuals who accessed Obama's files also reviewed McCain's file earlier this year. This contract Question: What is a contract employee? employee has been reprimanded (=to tell someone officially that something they have done is very wrong), but not fired. The individual no longer has access to passport records, he said.

"I can assure you that person's going to be at the top of the list of the inspector general when they talk to people, and we are currently reviewing our (disciplinary) options with respect to that person," McCormack said.

Question: In ''they talk to people what does ''they'' stand for - If it stands for inspector general then inspector general is singular person, not plural?

Apologizing and investigating
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with all three candicates on Friday and expressed her regrets. In the meantime, State Department officials headed to Capitol Hill (=Capitol is the building in Washington D.C. where the US Congress meets and Capitol Hill is the hill in Washington D.C. where the Capitol building stands. Congress consists of the group of people elected to make laws in the US, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. House of Representatives consists of the members directly elected by the people or elected by popular vote) to brief the candidates' staffs.

After speaking with Obama, Rice told reporters: "I told him that I was sorry, and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed."

Question: I would have written, ''I myself would be very disturbed if such a thing has happened to me''. Is my way correct? If I am correct, then why is the shorter form used?

The State Department said the Justice Department would be monitoring the probe (=an investigation in which many questions are asked to discover the truth about something) in case it needs to get involved.

Question: I couldn't understand the part where it says ''it needs get involved''.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the case has not yet been referred to the Justice Department for investigation, and indicated prosecutors likely would wait until the State Department's inspector general concludes its inquiry. But Mukasey did not rule out the possibility of the Justice Department taking an independent look (=an attempt to find something) at the passport breach.

"Have they asked us to become involved â no," Mukasey told reporters during a Friday briefing. "When, as, and if we have a basis for an investigation, including a reference â that is, one basis would be a reference â we could conduct one."

Question: What is a reference? I couldn't find any meaning which fitted in the context. And I also couldn't understand the part ''when, asn and if''.

Asked what another basis could be, Mukasey said: "I don't want to speculate but if somebody walked in here with a box full of evidence, they wouldn't be turned away (=to refuse to allow sb/sth to enter a place)."

Question: I would have used ''walks'' instead of ''walked''. What do you say on this? What does ''they'' stand for?

Record of incidents
In Clinton's case, an individual last summer accessed her file as part of a training session involving another State Department worker. McCormack said the one-time violation was immediately recognized and the person was admonished (=to tell someone severely that they have done something wrong).

Obama's records were accessed without permission on three separate occasions â Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and as recently as last week, on March 14.

McCormack declined to name the companies that employed the contractors, despite demands by a senior House Democrat that such information is in the public interest.

Question: What are these companies? What is a House Democrat?

"At this point, we just started an investigation," he said. "We want to err on the side of caution (=to be too careful rather than take a risk)."

McCain, who was in Paris on Friday, said any breach of passport privacy deserves an apology and a full investigation.

"The United States of America values everyone's privacy and corrective action should be taken," he said.

It is not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age, Social Security number (=in the US, an official identity number that everyone is given when they are born) and place of birth, which is required when a person fills out a passport application.

Privacy issues
Aside from the file, the information could allow critics to dig deeper into the candidates' private lives. While the file includes date and place of birth, address at time of application and the countries the person has traveled to, the most important detail would be their Social Security number, which can be used to pull credit reports and other personal information.

Question: The part ''aside from the file'' doesn't seem correct in my opinion. I believe it should have been ''aside from the basic personal data. What do you say?
What are credit reports?

The firings (=to be severely criticized for something you have done - used in news reports) and unspecified discipline of the third employee already had occurred when senior State Department officials learned of the break-ins (=an act of entering a building illegally and by force, especially in order to steal things) to the files. Rice learned about it Thursday, after a reporter inquired about Obama's case.

Question: I would have used ''firing'' instead of ''firings''. What do you say?
What does ''unspecified discipline'' mean?

The violations were detected by internal State Department computer checks because certain records, including those of high-profile people, are "flagged" with a computer tag that tips off (=a secret warning or piece of information, especially one given to the police about illegal activities) supervisors when someone tries to view the records without a proper reason.

The Washington Times first reported the incident involving Obama.

Question: I would have written: The Washington Times was the first to report.. What do you say?

Former Independent Counsel Joseph diGenova said the firings of the contract employees will make the investigation more difficult because the inspector general can't compel them to talk.

"My guess is if he tries to talk to them now, in all likelihood (=almost certainly) they will take the Fifth," diGenova said, referring to the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination (=is the act of accusing oneself of a crime for which a person can then be prosecuted).

On Thursday, the State Department's top management officer, Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy, said the incident was not handled properly.

"I will fully acknowledge this information should have been passed up the line," Kennedy told reporters in a conference call. "It was dealt with (=handled) at the office level."

In answer to a question, Kennedy said the department doesn't look into political affiliation in doing background checks on passport workers. "Now that this has arisen, this becomes a germane (=relevant) question, and that will be something for the appropriate investigation to look into," he said.

Re: whoever, singular or plural?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 04:06:40 GMT

The questionof 'whoever' being sing. or plural depends on its use in the sentence, and if it is qualified by a noun in apposition:

Always singular: Whoever is here can pick up a form. = Whoever is it that is here.../It does not matter who the person is, he or she can pick up a form.

However, if the pronoun 'whoever' is followed by a noun, the noun can be singular or plural, and the verb agrees with that noun:

Whoever the successful candidates are, they will be rewarded.

Whoever the successful candidate is,he or she will be rewarded.

Whoever you are, know that I have always depended on the kindness of strangers...

Whoever they are, they will be apprehended soon.

Hope that helps.

Visnja (better late than never)