Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Singular verbs' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Singular verbs'

Re: expectations, expectation

Skrej — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:58:38 GMT

This boils down to a case of subject/verb agreement.

As a quick reminder, singular subjects require singular verbs, and plural subjects require plural verbs.

Expectation is singular, expectations is plural. Whichever you choose needs to have the appropriate matching verb to go with it in the 2nd half of the sentence.

However, in your sample sentence, you're given a clue. It says "...that Lewis Hamilton IS under..." 'Is' is a singular verb, which tells you that you need a singular subject, 'expectation'.

So, "The expectation that Lewis Hamilton is under is causing him immense problems."

'

Re: Go/Goes

Cool Breeze — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:16:32 GMT

Anonymous
Hi,

"In her will, it was requested that most of her estate go to animal charities"

You are talking about property, not anything countable, and therefore a singular verb is needed: Most of her estate goes to animal charities. If the reference were to something countable, a plural verb would be needed: Most of these books are interesting. Most of those boys know the answer. Most of them are happy. But: Most of it is easy.

Re: One or two

Goodman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:55:35 GMT

Abil,
Yes, you are correct in "formal" usage.
This may help clear any doubts:

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/english/2005/02/neither_or_eith.html

Laura asks:
How about using "neither" versus "either"? I transcribe for doctors, and this is one rule I just can't get straight in my head.
I need to figure out a way to remember which to use when, because some of the docs use them indiscriminately.

Great question!

"Either" and "neither" are both singular adjectives meaning "one or the other of two." "Neither" of course means "not the first
one and not the second one."In formal writing, we usually use a singular verb because "either" and "neither" signal that one of the following
nouns is the subject, but not both:

Either Bill or Bob is going to the conference. (One or the other is going, but not both.)
Neither Joan nor Jane likes sushi. (= Joan doesn't like sushi. Jane doesn't like sushi either!)

Notice that we say "either...or" and "neither...nor." In informal English, most people would say "Neither Joan OR Jane LIKE sushi." That's
all right in conversation, but in formal documents you should prefer the formal usage.

Of course we have a confusing exception to this rule. You can use a plural verb if you have a plural noun next to the verb:
Either Joan or the Kennedys are going to the conference.

But put the singular noun closer to the verb, and it goes back to singular!
Either the Kennedys or Joan is going to the conference.

And it's the same with "neither":
Neither Jane nor her brothers like sushi.
Neither her brothers nor Jane likes sushi.

Of course the verb will be plural if both nouns are plural:
Either the Smiths or the Robinsons are meeting us at the station.
Neither the Canadians nor the Americans are interested in this problem.

Re: numbers

Philip — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:03:20 GMT

1) You are correct. [an amount of $10 has been stolen from my purse]

2) A percentage of those
Now, about the verb. You'll get differing views. A percentage requires a singular verb, logically. However, because of the proximity of those, a plural verb simply sounds better. Take your pick: technically correct or the better sound.

Re: monitoring the quake lake situation

Grammar Geek — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:02:42 GMT

Police is never singular.

In the US, we tend to use the singular verb for these collective nouns: company, team, staff, jury. Only when we want to talk about them as individuals do we use the plural. I've noticed that other places are more likely to use the plural verb for government or company.

Re: a plurality of +V.

Mister Micawber — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:06:18 GMT

.
It seems an awkward word choice here, and I would avoid it except for its more standard uses (as in vote counting). However, I suppose that where it means 'a number of' it would take a plural verb, and where it means 'the number of', it would take a singular verb.

Re: "I would be surprised..."

Yoong Liat — Sat, 17 May 2008 18:17:52 GMT

more than one is plural in meaning but singular in form, and takes a singular verb.

(The Right Word at the Right Time)

Re: Transformation of sentence

Yoong Liat — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:28:35 GMT

Raju's friends were not at the concert nor was Raju himself.

1. Neither Raju's friends nor Raju was at the concert.

2. Neither Raju nor his friends were at the concert.

Kooyeen wrote: ... the vast majority of native speakers would find #2 much more natural because the plural verb in #2 (=were) agrees with what comes immediately before (...friends were...).

If that's the case, #1 is also correct because the singular verb in #1 (was) agrees with what comes immediately before (...Raju was...).

Do you agree?

Re: was or were

Grammar Geek — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:06:07 GMT

http://www.bartleby.com/68/47/4047.html: Neither is paired with nor as either is with or, and in those uses as conjunctions they pose usage problems of agreement. Usually they will take a singular verb if both parts of the structure are singular, as in Neither he nor his friend is ready, and if the first element is plural but the second element remains singular, the structure may still take a singular verb, as in Neither my friends nor my father is ready, although a plural is also possible. But if the second element is plural, the verb will almost always be plural: Neither my father nor his friends are ready. Agreement between neither/nor and the verb is frequently a matter of notional agreement: hence Standard English in all but its most Formal and Oratorical situations will usually accept either number of the verb.

So "mqnager" come second, it's closer to the verb, and therefore the verb is singular -- "although a plural is also possible" says barlteby.

Re: Two years is a long time

Goodman — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:33:42 GMT

Pter,

We were taught early on in basic grammar that âmanyâ suggest more than 1 and therefore plural verb should be used. Yes, itâs true, but not always. Sometimes the rules seem to be illusively bent, depending on the context.

5 miles one way is too far to walk to school. â singular verb is correct.

How many cookies are in a package? âif you are hold a bag sealed package and you know it contains more than 1 cookie, then itâs correct to say âhow many are there â¦â.

But if your friend told you about a product and you are interested, you would say â

How many is in the package. i.e.

A: I booked a cruise vacation to the Caribbean yesterday. Itâs a very good package and I thought it would be fun if you can come along.

B: How much is it? And how many days is the cruise? In this context, I would say âisâ is considered correct in my opinion because âhow many daysâ is taken as a duration. However other experts may not agree.

There are plenty of examples where plural subjects are seemingly used with singular verb agreement. i.e.

Five dollars for a scoop of ice cream is too rich for my taste.

So, for your last 2 questions, they are both passible, depending on what the context is. That's how I see it.