In Verbs^x, Plural subject^x, Constructions^x

Only when it is really obvious, such as an innate characteristic:: Male lions have a mane, females do not. Palamino horses have a flaxen mane and tail and a contrasting golden coat.

Thank you both for shedding some light on this! "The key word is 'most'." I suspected as much. What if the sentence is modified by an adverb? "Sometimes, the cats have a collar." "Usually, the cats have a collar." "Often, the cats have a...

Marius Hancu wrote: It's definitely subjunctive mood. But it's not easy. Dear Marius Hancu, I hope you won't kick me out. From grammatical point of view, I totally agree with you. The if ...., ... would construct gives us a clue that subjunctive is in play, especially Today is the...

The first one, because -- actually, I'm not quite sure how to explain it. Well, a quick search on google for "thing after thing was" has about 100 results, while "thing after thing were" has none. Hmm. As I understand it, the only way to form a plural subject out of two singular nouns is to...

Grammar demands a plural verb with a plural subject. Are should be used in all of Selvakumar's and Katarina's examples. But Webster's Dictionary of English Usage points out that there is a "...long-standing propensity for there is or there's in every case, even when the following subject is...

About there is, there are Webster's Dictionary of English Usage says: Jesperson notes that the invariable singular occurs mostly in the colloquial style -- speech and speechlike prose -- and is generally avoided in the literary style. That observation accords with our evidence. In the...

I'm wondering what the differences are in the following sentences? I know(a) sounds awkward, but what about (b), (c)? open/opened... close/closed... (a) ???The mall is opened five days a week. Not at all awkward IF the meaning points to the fact that some person is in charge of opening...

Hi, it's me, Ralf, the starter of this thread. Thanks for your answers so far. A post in another thread pointed me to the "American Heritage - Book of English Usage", where I found this section : According to the standard rule, when the pronoun there precedes a verb such as be, seem, or...