Search results for 'tag:Tenses tag:Singular nouns' matching tags 'Tenses' and 'Singular nouns'

Re: 2 questions

Mister Micawber — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:19:00 GMT

So is it Ok to say: "books pages" instead of "pages of the books" or "books' pages" -- No; the singular noun is standard when used as an adjective: 'book pages' (no matter how many books are involved)

How about: "Company Council" instead of "Council of the Company" or "Company's Council" -- Company Council (whatever that means) is fine.

So, I guess, it doesn't matter which tense I will use, both are correct. That's my opinion -- That opinion is wrong.

Re: This, that, these, those usage in formal/acadmic writing

Anonymous — Fri, 18 May 2007 19:39:48 GMT

These terms (this/that/these/those) are a little bit interchangable. (For example, I could have said, "Those terms" instead of "These terms.") This and That are used with singular nouns (This idea) and These and Those are plural (These ideas). It has nothing to do with present or past tense. It has to do with distance. One should use This/These rather than That/Those to refer to the topic(s) just mentioned. But it is acceptable to use "Those ideas," for example to refer to ideas one is summarizing.
In academic writing authors often use This without specifying what they are referring to. For example: "We know that learning requires effort. This will help you succeed." What does This refer to? The knowledge that learning requires effort? The effort itself? The goal to learn something? Be clear about what This means by avoiding This or at least putting a noun right after This: "This knowledge will help you succeed."

Re: Is this correct?

Clive — Fri, 04 May 2007 17:25:17 GMT

Hi,

All the data have been ready in the computer system (programe).

Say 'program' NAmE or 'programme' BrE.

Many people treat 'data' as a singular noun.

You need to have a context that makes this tense appropriate.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: "and" and comma

Lovek323 — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:06:34 GMT

Question 1
Although the question has already been answered, I should like to comment on why arise is the correct choice. The subject of the clause should any difference arise is difference, which is singular and third person. One of the fundamental principles of English grammar is that the subject and verb must agree in number and person. Thus, as the subject is third person singular, the verb must also be third person singular. (A more thorough explanation would discuss number and person.)

For all verbs except to be, number and person only affect the present tense. The -s ending is used for the third person singular and the uninflected (unchanged) form is used for the rest:

My neighbours annoy me.
My dog annoys me.

The uninflected form annoy is used when the subject is a plural noun phrase ("my neighbours" above) or one of the pronouns I, we, you (sg. or pl.), or they. The -s ending is appended when the subject is a singular noun phrase or one of the third person singular personal pronouns (he, she, or it).

Question 2
As has already been pointed out, neither of the proposed sentences was correct. A sufficient response has been given as to the reason behind the choice of a semi colon, even if it was unnecessarily cerebral (just kidding).

Re: Is this noun singular or plural?

Goodman — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:36:38 GMT

CalifJim wrote:

There is are a lot of questions which need/ ~~needs~~ to be answered.¹

There ~~was /~~ ~~were~~ was a great deal of confusions at that momentâ¦..²

There ~~was~~ were a few among us who still believed ~~/believes~~ that â¦â¦³
___________________

¹'a lot of' is number transparent. Make the agreement with questions.

² 'a great deal of' can only be followed by singular noun. The agreeing verb must take this into account.

³ 'a few' is not number transparent. It is inherently plural. Make the agreement with the plural 'a few'. Tense agreement would make for a smoother effect here as well.

^{1, 2, 3} All three of these use the there construction. In these the verb after there must agree with the relevant noun which follows the verb.

CJ

Thanks CJ,

You know, I must have misunderstood or been taught the substandard English grammar early on.

All the âtransparentâ phrases, as you called them, were in my mind of singular in nature. i.e. there is a lot/ a few / great deal/ plenty ofâ¦etc..

What got me was the âaâ which lead me to think of it as âoneâ and therefore associated with âthere isâ. Thanks for straightening me out!

Re: Is this noun singular or plural?

CalifJim — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:26:58 GMT

There is are a lot of questions which need/ ~~needs~~ to be answered.¹

There ~~was /~~ ~~were~~ was a great deal of confusions at that momentâ¦..²

There ~~was~~ were a few among us who still believed ~~/believes~~ that â¦â¦³
___________________

¹'a lot of' is number transparent. Make the agreement with questions.

² 'a great deal of' can only be followed by singular noun. The agreeing verb must take this into account.

³ 'a few' is not number transparent. It is inherently plural. Make the agreement with the plural 'a few'. Tense agreement would make for a smoother effect here as well.

^{1, 2, 3} All three of these use the there construction. In these the verb after there must agree with the relevant noun which follows the verb.

Re: Is/Are -- Strange sentences

Aperisic — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:05:20 GMT

Kooyeen wrote:

Hi, can I disagree? From Google:

By Lili Ladaga
CNN Interactive Writer

(CNN) -- "If you were marooned on a desert island, what would you need to survive? A Swiss Army knife? Toilet paper? Moisturizer? According to Australian writer Anna Johnson, all you need are three black skirts."

This is from NPR, "Talk of the nation", May 1 2006: "What you have are these two extremes fighting each other"

And this come from the Longman Dictionary: "All you need is a hammer and some nails."

In the end I think it's all about tense agreement, as always (that is, I think this question has something in common with the "There is/are a cat and a dog" question). I'll post my guesses:

Two speakers are all you need ---------> All you need are two speakers.
A few grammar books are what I want ------> What I want are a few grammar books.
Some beer and some water are the things I need ------> The things I need are some beer and some water.
A new PC and a new car are the things I need --------> The things I need are a new PC and a new car.

Notice that in the sentences 3 and 4 I think "things" require "are" even though a singular noun follows.

Extra example:

A hammer and a screwdriver are all you need ---> All you need is a hammer and a screwdriver.

So, those were my guesses, let's wait to see if I guessed right.

Well are/is in the cases you mentioned are the questions of style as well. But, you will not make a mistake if you take what I said and take it literally as long as you do not become a CNN journalist, or a famous writer. Then you can create rules of your own and feel when you can beat the strict grammar.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what would you need to survive? A Swiss Army knife? Toilet paper? Moisturizer? According to Australian writer Anna Johnson, all you need are three black skirts.

are is here because the journalist has mentioned one list of things already A Swiss Army knife? Toilet paper? Moisturizer? So in this case all you need = the things you need

This is from NPR, "Talk of the nation", May 1 2006: "What you have are these two extremes fighting each other"

are is used here because "What you have is these two extremes fighting each other" would hurt ears, "is these" sounds more strange to "are these"

All you need is a hammer and some nails.

Here, is a is correct and there was none reason of style to change anything.

All you need are a hammer and some nails.

would sound worse because of "are a", so not only that is a is correct, it sounds better.

But all as a subject on its own, not a replacement for something else, requires is

All I need is several books = All [I need] is several books = All is several books

All I need is several books = [All] I need [is] several books = I need several books

All = everything what (unless you managed to give it a different meaning in the rest part of the writing)

Everything what I need is several books

However

I tried these cakes. All I tried are good. All = All cakes = The cakes

You cannot compare

Two speakers are all you need ---------> All you need are two speakers.

that is the cause of the error.

Two speakers are all you need = Two speakers are {the complete list of things that you need}.

All you need is two speakers. = All you need is {having two speakers}.

Re: Is/Are -- Strange sentences

Kooyeen — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 23:22:33 GMT

Hi, can I disagree? From Google:

By Lili Ladaga
CNN Interactive Writer

(CNN) -- "If you were marooned on a desert island, what would you need to survive? A Swiss Army knife? Toilet paper? Moisturizer? According to Australian writer Anna Johnson, all you need are three black skirts."

This is from NPR, "Talk of the nation", May 1 2006: "What you have are these two extremes fighting each other"

And this come from the Longman Dictionary: "All you need is a hammer and some nails."

In the end I think it's all about tense agreement, as always (that is, I think this question has something in common with the "There is/are a cat and a dog" question). I'll post my guesses:

Two speakers are all you need ---------> All you need are two speakers.
A few grammar books are what I want ------> What I want are a few grammar books.
Some beer and some water are the things I need ------> The things I need are some beer and some water.
A new PC and a new car are the things I need --------> The things I need are a new PC and a new car.

Notice that in the sentences 3 and 4 I think "things" require "are" even though a singular noun follows.

Extra example:

A hammer and a screwdriver are all you need ---> All you need is a hammer and a screwdriver.

So, those were my guesses, let's wait to see if I guessed right.

Re: my dream move on

YoHf — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:05:47 GMT

My dream moves on.

As long as you have a singular noun before the verb, you need the -s, unless you're using a past tense, obviously.

Re: can you tell me my mistake please?

Crux_online — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 15:45:36 GMT

There are many mistakes here, mostly of usage. I will address the major problems here.

First sentence: a teen have benn victim of a short missed ,then he tried to kill his agressor,he had a feud with the two boys.

Let's correct the spelling first:

A teen have been victim of a shot missed, then he tried to kill his aggressor, he had a feud with the two boys.

Here, have been does not agrees with the subject. In order to agree with the 3rd person singular noun teen, have been must become has been.

A teen has been victim of a shot missed, then he tried to kill his aggressor, he had a feud with the two boys.

Now let's look at the tone of the sentence. When you use a construction like has been, you are usually talking about some past event--you really are not concerned with the event itself, just that it has happened. Here, however, you are describing a specific event. You will want to point to that past event with a verb in the simple past (we'll add the proper article, a, for good measure:

A teen was a victim of a shot missed, then he tried to kill his aggressor, he had a feud with the two boys.

Now you have a complete sentence up to the underlined portion. The underlined portion should be a separate sentence because it is a separat thought and includes its own subject and predicate:

A teen was a victim of a shot [that] missed, then he tried to kill his aggressor, He had a feud with the two boys.

These sentences are now complete and correct.

Here is the rest with the errors underlined:

For the principal who try to make her life bettter , the solution isn't it police but more discussion, help and hope.she says that apathy and rage are the enemies of children not knives an guns

And corrected for spelling, verb tense and agreement, and usage:

For the principal who (tries / is trying) to make her life better, the solution isn't [more] police, but more discussion, help, and hope. She says that apathy and rage are the enemies of children, not knives and guns.

To may want to look at your other compositions in the same way. Don't look at the work as a whole, but separate the parts of the task of correction and perform each task separately (correct the spelling, then correct verb tense, etc.)

C