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

Re: one or two was

Hoa Thai — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:57:57 GMT

Avangi wrote:
Good morning, Hoa Thai,

I appreciate the research. I think your second example is a little bit different, but I'm not sure I can explain it. The gist of it is, ten years ago you might have gotten one or two [things] while now you get twelve. Since the verb is "to be" you can exchange the subject with the predicate nominative and the meaning is the same: "Betty is my sister. My sister is Betty." So your sentence could read, "A decade ago, the norm [the normal amount] was one or two." Or you could say, "The amount was two or three." "Norm" and "amount" are singular nouns and would take the singular verb "was." I think it would be like saying, "The score was two or three," and then turning it around and saying, "Two or three was the score." Nobody would say, "Two or three were the score." But I don't know how to justify it formally.

Regards, - A.

(Thanks, Philip)

P.S. Looking back at Jack London's piece, we missed one of his baddies: "Most of those oyster pirates was shot or died in jail." "Most" is a plural noun, like "many", and takes the plural verb, "were."

Hi Avangi,

Your "exchanging the subject with the predicate nominative" comment reinforces what I learned but did not often pay attention.

Thank you for spending your time helping me to think a bit deeper.

Best Regards,
Hoa Thai

Re: one or two was

Avangi — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:05:40 GMT

Good morning, Hoa Thai,

I appreciate the research. I think your second example is a little bit different, but I'm not sure I can explain it. The gist of it is, ten years ago you might have gotten one or two [things] while now you get twelve. Since the verb is "to be" you can exchange the subject with the predicate nominative and the meaning is the same: "Betty is my sister. My sister is Betty." So your sentence could read, "A decade ago, the norm [the normal amount] was one or two." Or you could say, "The amount was two or three." "Norm" and "amount" are singular nouns and would take the singular verb "was." I think it would be like saying, "The score was two or three," and then turning it around and saying, "Two or three was the score." Nobody would say, "Two or three were the score." But I don't know how to justify it formally.

Regards, - A.

(Thanks, Philip)

P.S. Looking back at Jack London's piece, we missed one of his baddies: "Most of those oyster pirates was shot or died in jail." "Most" is a plural noun, like "many", and takes the plural verb, "were."

Re: learning grammar - When, Why, etc...

Grammar Geek — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:41:58 GMT

I can only tell you my experiences as a parent.

My older daugher is 10. This year, she brought home papers in which she had to identify things like the simple subject, the complete subject, the simple predicate, the complete predicate, etc. She also had exercises last year on whether something was a predicate nominiative or predicate adjective. (Personally, I find these rather pointless.)

However, I was lucky enough to spend a good amount of time in her "language arts" classes last year (as a guest editor) and found that the emphasis is in coherent writing, a logical flow to the writing, etc. The students would do peer editing for things like capitalization, puncturation, and subject/verb agreement. Then final drafts are given to the teacher who includes corrections on the mechanics of grammar as well as the content of the essay. If several students seem to make the same type of mistake, the teacher would review - for example, rules about capitalization.

I haven't yet observed things like "None always takes a singular verb" or "Make the verb agree with last subject when you have a compound subject joined by 'or' " so I don't know if that is past, or future, or simply assumed and corrected as writing pieces are turned in.

However, my daughter was easily able to recite when you use "I" or "me" yesterday when someone (not me!) asked her about it.

I've been impressed with the teaching so far - the emphasis has been on being able to clearly communicate your ideas, but it doesn't allow for sloppy mechanics in fnal versions either.

Re: What Is or What Are?

Bambang — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 10:04:46 GMT

Just for additional information, here is the usage notes from a dictionary :

When what is the subject of a clause, it may be construed as singular or plural, depending on the sense. It is singular when taken as the equivalent of that which or the thing which, as in I see what seems to be a dead tree; and it is plural when it is taken as the equivalent of those which or the things which, as in He sometimes makes what seem to be gestures of aloofness. - When a what clause is itself the subject of a sentence, it may be construed as singular or plural, but the conditions governing this choice are somewhat more complicated. In general, a what clause will be taken as a plural when the clause contains an explicit indication of its own plurality. There are two principal cases. First, the clause is plural if what is the subject of the clause and the verb of the clause is itself plural: What seem to be two dead trees are blocking the road. What most surprise me are the inflammatory remarks at the end of his article. If the verb in the what clause does not anticipate the plural sense of the predicate in this way, a singular verb is generally used in the main clause as well, though the plural is sometimes found: What truly commands respect is (sometimes are) a large navy and a resolute foreign policy. Second, the what clause is treated as plural when its predicate contains a plural noun phrase that unambiguously establishes the plurality of the clause as a whole, as in What traditional grammarians called "predicates" are called "verb phrases" by modern linguists. What the Romans established as military outposts were later to become important trading centers. In the absence of explicit plural marking of either of these types in a subject what clause, the clause is usually treated as singular for the purposes of agreement, regardless of the sense: What she held in her lap was four kittens. What the apparent diamonds turned out to be was paste. In some cases, however, a clause with what as the subject may be treated as singular or plural, depending on a subtle distinction of sense. In What excite him most are money and power, the implication is that money and power are distinct elements; in What excites him most is money and power, the implication is that money and power are taken as constituting a single entity.

Re: What is complement verbs

happy — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 02:55:25 GMT

Hello Casi,

Thank you so much for your assistance, It so nice of you, I have a better understanding now.
Can I asked a few questions?

You mentioned noun cannot occur after seem.

Why is that so? It seem to me that the sentence (she seem a doctor ) is ok. You mean this sentence is wrong because doctor is a noun.

Can you please help me to check whether am I right for the
following:

You are rich (rich is the complement verb of you -because it is an adjective or predicate adjective.)

They are naughty children (children is noun complement of they and naughty is the adjective complement )

Is that true any thing after be is past participle? eg

All these papers will be thrown into the dustin if you don't keep.

Iam quite poor at Plural noun but must use at singular verb, do you know of any books i can read to improve on this, most of the grammar book i brought had limited eg.

eg I know news , mathematics , trousers, scissors, one hundred dollars, fish and chips , butter and bread, they are plural but must use with singular verb.

Many Tks.