Search results for 'tag:Verbs tag:Plurals' matching tags 'Verbs' and 'Plurals'

Re: nations' efforts or nations efforts

Grammar Geek — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:16:55 GMT

wholegrain
Why is it correct in singular, but wrong in plural?

Power is used as an adjective. What sort of struggles? Power struggles.

(If the headline meant that the highly placed people, referred to as "the powers," were struggling, then the stuggle becomes a verb and would need to be in the plural. )

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: fruit are?

Goodman — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:16:18 GMT

<<< Goodman, you are changing the pronoun. In your sentence of course make. However, what as a relative pronoun is always singular:>>>
And so is who! s what is the difference?

No I am not changing anything. I just want to prove a point. The approach to treat "what" as sigular even when the preceding pronouns are plural in my opinion is incorrect. Therefore the verb has to agree with the singuarity or plurality of the noun. I maybe wrong.
As for the sentence, I deliberately made John and Mary as a compound pronoun which should require the verb to agree with the plural form.
B - John and Mary are the only officers who make decisions around here.

(Is it âmakesâ or âmakeâ?)

Re: fruit are?

Cool Breeze — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:14:00 GMT

Goodman

Also, even assumming "are "is correct, then "makes" is disagreeing with the previous verb, "are".

Of course it disagrees with are because it has nothing to do with it. The subject of makes is the relative pronoun what. According to most dictionaries, Webster's among them, fruit can be used as a collective plural. If are is wrong with it, what plural verb form of to be do you suggest?

Re: Transformational Rules and Subject-Verb Agreement

Cool Breeze — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:08:25 GMT

Anonymous
The couple is living in Dallas
The couple are living in Dallas

Which?

Either one will do. Couple is grammatically singular but two people are needed to form a couple. Especially in British English a plural verb is often used if many people are involved: England are up four to two. That's what a British sports commentator would say about a football match. I don't think I have ever heard is used in that context.

Re: family is/are

nona the brit — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:00:57 GMT

Sometimes (particularly in British English) we can vary whether we use the singular or plural verb in these cases. It can change the meaning though. Remember that the singular verb is used when we are thinking of the group as a whole single entity. The plural verb can be used when we are thinking of the individual members of that group. I would interpret your sentences:

My family is big. There are a lot of people in my family. The group (familly) is large in size.

My family are big. The people in my family are fat. The individuals(making up the family group) are big...which is a euphamism for fat.

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: majority is or are??

Goodman — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:06:41 GMT

I'll say it depends. It may have to do with what context it's used but by and large, I see it as more frequently used in singular context.

The American Heritage^Â® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

majority

SYLLABICATION:	maÂ·jorÂ·iÂ·ty
PRONUNCIATION:	m-jÃ´r-t, -jr-
NOUN:	Inflected forms: pl. maÂ·jorÂ·iÂ·ties 1. The greater number or part; a number more than half of the total. 2. The amount by which the greater number of votes cast, as in an election, exceeds the total number of remaining votes. 3. The political party, group, or faction having the most power by virtue of its larger representation or electoral strength. 4. Law The status of having reached full legal age, with attendant rights and responsibilities. 5. The military rank, commission, or office of a major. 6. Obsolete The fact or state of being greater; superiority.
ETYMOLOGY:	French majoritÃ©, from Medieval Latin mirits, from Latin mior, greater. See meg- in Appendix I.
USAGE NOTE:	When majority refers to a particular number of votes, it takes a singular verb: Her majority was five votes. His majority has been growing by 5 percent every year. When it refers to a group of persons or things that are in the majority, it may take either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the group is considered as a whole or as a set of people considered individually. So we say The majority elects (not elect) the candidate it wants (not they want), since the election is accomplished by the group as a whole; but The majority of the voters live (not lives) in the city, since living in the city is something that each voter does individually. â¢Majority is often preceded by great (but not by greater) in expressing emphatically the sense of âmost ofâ: The great majority approved. The phrase greater majority is appropriate only when considering two majorities: He won by a greater majority in this election than in the last.

Re: global warning

Avangi — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:29:09 GMT

As Yoong Liat says.

My point was that after all those plurals, the ear likes to hear a plural verb. Being so far away from "number," the ear forgets that a singular verb is being asked for. "Disasters" is plural, so the problem disappears.

But I fear there'll be objections to the sentence in this form, since one may ask, "What does it mean for a disaster to rise?" Technically, it's the number that rises.

If you say "Smallpox is on the rise again," you probably mean the number of cases, but you could also mean "the threat of smalpox" is on the rise.

- A.

Re: by night

Skrej — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:07:25 GMT

Abil
We have experienced heavy downpour of monsoon rain this morning and we are expecting more by night. The sky is enveloped in dark clouds.

Is "by night" all right here? Are there any other mistakes? Thanks

Hi Abil,

To answer your question, 'by night' is acceptable, although you might also hear 'by nightfall' or 'by night time', or even 'by tonight'.

However, you need to make a couple of minor corrections in your sentence. First, you need to clarify if the downpour is plural or singular. As you've written it, it's unclear and grammatically incorrect.

It should read " We have experienced heavy downpours of monsoon rain..." or "We have experienced a heavy downpour of monsoon rain..."

Also, I'd choose a different verb rather than 'enveloped'. I think 'covered', works well here instead.