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

Re: fruit are?

Cool Breeze — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:01:32 GMT

Goodman

As written: John and Mary are the only officers who make decisions around here. And I asked if the answer should be [makes] or [make].
And you said "In your sentence of course make"

By the nature of your comment, didn't you just agree with my view?

Yes, as far as who is concerned. What is something else. It never has an antecedent as a relative pronoun, neither singular nor plural, nothing, and that's why a singular verb is used with it. This is obvious from the singular that, which occurs in that which, which is sometimes used to replace what.

You can of course check the grammatical behavior of relative what in any good grammar book if you don't believe me. I find it very strange that you haven't already done that. It would have saved you a lot of time wasted writing opinions instead of facts.

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: none of these gadgets matter/matters

CalifJim — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:17:40 GMT

If there's no power, none of these gadgets matters.

The rule is that none always takes the singular verb.

However, the rule is more often broken than observed, so this rule is usually used only in formal contexts (such as English grammar exams), and the proximity rule mentioned earlier in this thread is more often used by real people in real conversations.

Re: Three out of every four automobile owners in the U.S also own a bicyle

Avangi — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:02:12 GMT

Kprasadreddy
Three out of every four automobile owners in the U.S also own a bicyle

One out of every four automobile owners in the U.S also owns a bicyle

Kprasadreddy
Thanks but can you explain the grammar behind it?

In your first example, "three" is the subject of the sentence. The prepositional phrase "out of etc." modifies "three." The plural subject requires the plural verb, "own."

The subject of your second sentence is "one," which is singular and takes the singular verb "owns."

The separate issue, "bicycle(s)," is something I'm not sure about. If you say "'Three people own a bicycle," it could be interpreted to mean that they all share in the ownership of a single bicycle. In the present example, context would rule that out; but "Three people own bicycles," could mean that A owns one, B owns one, and C owns five - equals seven bicycles all together. (You might argue that that doesn't matter.)

Best regards, - A.

Re: The way

Liveinjapan — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:44:05 GMT

New2grammar
the singular what.

Hi, New2

I think when what and who function as subjects, a singular verb follows.

It's just my opinion.

Re: grammar questions

Clive — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:26:32 GMT

Hi,

(1) Professor Beverly Keever of the School of Communications at the University of Hawaii told us there is an inverse relationship to what is considered news and what is important.

Should "that" be inserted before "there is an..." Please advise It's optional. Instead of 'to what', I'd say 'between'.

(2) Speaking opportunity range from public forums organized by politicians to TV programs to elementary school presentations.

Should it be ranges or range? A singular subject needs a singular verb. However, the sentence really needs to say

Speaking opportunities range from public forums organized by politicians to TV programs to elementary school presentations.

Best wishes, Clive

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.

Re: has / have

Yoong Liat — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:40:54 GMT

Grammar Geek

You need some sort of determiner before "meal."

In the U.S., we generlaly use a singular verb for family, but would still use "their" in the plural.

The dining area is where the family has/eats their meals.

It's the same in BrE; either a singular or a plural verb can be used after 'family'.

My family was/were in Orchard Road last Sunday.

It was/were my sisters that were dancing. (?)

Viceidol — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:18:37 GMT

I was reading a special English sentence stucture called "cleft sentence" in my grammar book, and I found one sentence I think is sort of strange:

It was my sisters that were dancing.

I think that since the subject is "my sisters", then why it has a singular verb "was" in front of it?

Or it just what the stucture of "cleft sentence" is like? Please give me your opinion, thank you!

Re: Only 2 yards of cloth is/are cut off. (?)

Clive — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:46:34 GMT

Hi,

I have something I really need to ask. It's about some tricky usage of
singular and plural verbs. I hope you could please check out these
sentence for me and see which verb should be used. My grammar books
all fail to give me an answer, so I come here for your help.

Only 2 yards of cloth is cut off.
Only 2 yards of cloth are cut off.

2 pounds of meat was bought.
2 pounds of meat were bought.

15 liters of water has been poured into the tank.
15 liters of water have been poured into the tank.

3 cartons of milk is what we need.
3 cartons of milk are what we need.

For your exam, I'd certainly recommend that you use the plural verb forms.

However, you can also think of 'two yards of cloth' as representing 'an amount'. By using the singular verb form, you show the listener that you are thinking in this way, so I wouldn't say that it is wrong. It's the same for the amounts in your other examples, too.

Best wishes, Clive