Agreement between a verb and its subject for number and person.
1
vote
3answers
296 views
Correct use of tense
Can you please confirm which of the following three is correct?
I shared some ideas with Jon, which he agrees is a good solution for the problem we are facing.
I shared some ideas with Jon, ...
0
votes
1answer
173 views
Use of “What kind”, and “What kind” vs “Which kind”
If we want to know the exact kind of a group of brids, should we say:
A: "What is the kind of these birds?"
or
B: "What kind of birds are these birds"?
If the questions above are phrased ...
2
votes
1answer
61 views
“There lie targets” vs. “there lies targets”
I have a sentence:
However, until then it is obvious that there lie intermediate “targets” — foo, bar and baz.
Is the use of lie in this way correct? The targets still exist, so I don’t want ...
2
votes
1answer
80 views
“Some is controversial, and some is my opinions” — is this grammatical?
I came across the expression
... some is controversial, and some is my opinions.
Is this correct? I wonder if “... some are my opinions” might be more correct.
1
vote
1answer
71 views
“The current crop of X (was/were)” - Which is correct? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is the usage of “are” correct when referring to a team/group/band?
Is “a wide range of features” singular or plural?
From here:
The current crop of golfers were ...
0
votes
2answers
266 views
Most of the world thinks I'm awesome. The rest have not met me yet. have or has? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When “most is” and when “most are”?
I am having a dilemma here...
"Most of the world thinks I'm awesome. The rest have not met me yet." - the rest of the world has not ...
1
vote
1answer
508 views
Is “I wouldn’t have got left” grammatical?
In American English, is the following sentence grammatical?
If I had run faster, I wouldn’t have got left.
2
votes
1answer
96 views
Plural of “the [x] of [y]”
What is the proper usage between 1) and 2)?
1) "Determine the values of the coefficients."
2) "Determine the value of the coefficients."
Each coefficient has one value in this context.
Similarly, ...
2
votes
1answer
94 views
Can plural you be followed by was, not were? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Historical usage of “was”/“were” with “you”
We was gonna have some fun
‘All’ below may be regarded as the singular, but can the plural of ‘you’ be followed by ‘was,’ ...
0
votes
1answer
362 views
Using “do” or “does” for two things connected by “and”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Singular or plural following a list
Does your mother and father know about this?
Do your mother and father know about this?
What does "this" and ...
10
votes
3answers
204 views
“[Noun] upon [noun]” — singular or plural?
I am copy-editing a manuscript in which the author has written the following sentence:
Rank upon rank of theologians has envisioned God the Father as the omniscient and omnipotent one.
"Rank ...
1
vote
1answer
128 views
Subject–verb agreement: “are” versus “is” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Singular or plural following a list
My apples and orange are wrong
What is correct?
Her ripples, her current, her momentum is the fountainhead of science.
Her ...
1
vote
2answers
187 views
“Neither of you understands him as I do” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which is correct, “neither is” or “neither are”?
“Neither Michael nor Albert is correct” or “Neither Michael nor Albert are correct”?
Neither of you understands him ...
0
votes
0answers
8 views
Is the correct verb conjugation for the subject “one or more of…” is or are? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which is correct: “one or more is” or “one or more are”?
After "one or more", should I use "it" or "them"?
If I would like to use the phrase "one or more of the ...
1
vote
1answer
232 views
“I was wondering what time it is” or “I was wondering what the time has been”
Can you tell me which option is more natural in this English sentence?
I'm sorry to trouble you but I was wondering what
(A) time it is
(B) the time has been
The whole story is that ...
0
votes
0answers
18 views
Should I use “have been” or “has been” when I talk about two different things? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Singular or plural following a list
Of these two sentences, which is correct?
A reflexion and an analysis has been done.
A reflexion and an analysis have been ...
3
votes
1answer
611 views
When should we use proximity rule in “either/or”, and “neither/nor”?
According to this link, if at least one of the nouns involved is plural then it should take the plural form of the verb. Otherwise, it should take the singular form of the verb. But in the last part ...
0
votes
0answers
14 views
“Acme Ltd provide” vs. “Acme Ltd provides” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?
I'm a little confused if I should be using provide or provides in the following situation.
Acme ...
10
votes
6answers
624 views
More than 1000 gallons of paint is/are sold each day [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Plural/singular verb agreement with units
Does modifying a collective noun with a number make the subject plural?
Can anyone help me determine the correct verb in this ...
2
votes
2answers
118 views
“… the top ten issues that the voting public care about” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?
Is “staff” plural?
This feels wrong to me (sounds like it should be cares) but issues is plural and in ...
6
votes
1answer
163 views
“What questions [is/are] your data team hoping to answer?”
Over at stats.stackexchange we are having a minor kerfuffle over whether a title is using incorrect grammar. It has been edited and re-edited several times. It would be great to get some arbitration ...
-2
votes
3answers
142 views
What are or What is [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Singular or plural following a list
Which of the following are correct:
What are the primary cause and the primary consequence of the...
What is the primary ...
-4
votes
3answers
179 views
Which one is correct: “was/were dead” or “is/are dead” years ago? [closed]
What are the differences between “was/were dead” and “is/are dead”?
For example,
Osama is/was dead years ago.
Are they interchangeable?
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Collective nouns and subject-verb agreement: general rule or arbitrary?
A newspaper ran this headline recently:
(1) Police crack down on IAC protesters. [emph added]
Why did it not read:
(2) ? Police cracks down on IAC protesters.
I have found instances of ...
2
votes
1answer
765 views
Collective noun “police” — singular or plural? [closed]
A newspaper ran this headline today:
Police crack down on IAC protesters.
Isn't the following more appropriate?
Police cracks down on IAC protesters.
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Plural followed by singular - “have” or “has”?
I'm wondering which of the following is correct:
Guns are an invention that have had an enormous impact on African history.
or
Guns are an invention that has had an enormous impact on ...
1
vote
1answer
736 views
How to refer to specified 'criteria', as singular or plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Criteria” versus “criterion”
Criteria is a word which defines collective recommendations for any entity.
I was drafting an email to my client ...
0
votes
3answers
251 views
Usage of third person form for first person
Recently, I discovered the following sentence in a Terry Pratchett book (which was not a typing error, since it appeared several times):
I sees what he's doing.
Presumably, the wrong usage of ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
“Was” or “were” for “half a dozen”
In Microsoft Word, the following sentence is flagged. It tells me to use "was" instead of "were"
There were half a dozen books strewn about the floor.
I would think that you would use "were" ...
0
votes
2answers
681 views
Jury was divided or Jury were divided? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are collective nouns always plural, or are certain ones singular?
Is “staff” plural?
What is correct?
The jury was divided or The jury were divided?
I am ...
10
votes
1answer
143 views
“A child don't know anything” in Gadsby — grammatically right? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
The grammaticality of “that don't impress me much”
In Gadsby, which is almost grammatically not wrong at all, occurs just a solitary construction that I ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Is “have/has lead to” OK?
I found a set of examples where I expect led instead of lead.
In recent years the rise in the crime rate has lead to increased concern on the part of both the police and the general public.
...
3
votes
4answers
341 views
When all you hear is fear and lies
The first time I heard it (When You Believe by Leon Jackson), my grammar instinct screamed "When all you hear are fear and lies." But then again, I feel that the phrase "all you hear are" sounds a ...
1
vote
0answers
147 views
“She don't care about me”: how to explain this? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
The grammaticality of “that don't impress me much”
I know the rule, the correct form is: "she doesn't care about me," but I heard it in Lost series, I ...
22
votes
7answers
1k views
Why “it’s turtles” not “they are turtles”
It is a third person singular and is used to refer to a thing. If that’s the case, then why do we say:
A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on ...
2
votes
1answer
205 views
“Neither Billy nor Suzy look” vs. “neither Billy nor Suzy looks” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Neither is” or “neither are”
Say you take a photo of Billy and Suzy, but they both end up looking funny. Would you say
Neither Billy nor ...
3
votes
2answers
253 views
Verb agreement for something that was discussed in the past, while the issue still exists in the present
How do you write something that was discussed in the past, while the issue still exists in the present?
The discussion resulted in the committee members highlighting crucial areas that need to ...
3
votes
1answer
598 views
Is “things such as this” singular or plural?
Which of the following is correct?
Things such as this make me happy.
Things such as this makes me happy.
Is the subject "things" or "this"?
3
votes
2answers
275 views
Verb agreement with nouns modified by numbers [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is it “5-6 weeks are a lot of time” or “5-6 weeks is a lot of time”?
I am writing about a baseball player who has 33 at-bats in his career.
...
6
votes
1answer
166 views
What is the correct subject-verb agreement for chemical quantities expressed in moles?
I'm currently editing some chemistry test questions, and I have several sentences like the following:
What is the total number of moles of HCl produced when 3 moles of hydrogen is completely ...
4
votes
4answers
214 views
“With such stature comes increased responsibilities”: is there only a banal typo?
I was interested in the following sentence which appeared in a news article titled "F.A. Gives Sir Alex the Hair-Dryer Treatment" by Jeffrey Marcus in The New York Times (November 12, 2009).
...
0
votes
4answers
183 views
“It might not be adequate and worsen” vs. “it might not be adequate and worsens”
The problem is this sentence:
It might not be adequate in some cases and worsen the results.
Is it correct or should I write "worsens the results"? If the effect of might not is propagated to ...
0
votes
2answers
318 views
Plural words/singular modifiers
Something I've always been confused about even as a native English speaker...
Say, someone is discussing a concert and they say: "there was a huge amount of people there". Is this correct, or should ...
3
votes
7answers
671 views
Subject–verb agreement — two schools of thought?
I wrote a sentence for our web site that was submitted for proofreading. The proofreader "corrected" my sentence. I asked how sure he was that he was correct and that I was incorrect. He explained ...
1
vote
2answers
333 views
“A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst […], keeps asking”
In the last chapter of The Catcher in The Rye:
A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here,
keeps asking me if I'm going apply myself when I go back to school
next ...
8
votes
5answers
842 views
“My last couple of years” — singular or plural?
Should I use "wasn't" or "weren't" in the following sentence?
My last couple of years as an Edison Eagle wasn’t all about fighting
and bad friendships.
0
votes
2answers
270 views
“This chapter, and the following chapters in this section” — singular or plural?
I have some technical documentation that has the phrase:
This chapters describes how to...
And I need to upgrade it to refer to the current and following chapters. What is the correct English ...
-2
votes
1answer
349 views
Subject-Verb Agreement question [closed]
You, the employer, contribute the most.
You, the employer, contributes the most.
which one would be correct?
Thanks!
6
votes
4answers
1k views
“My brother or one of my sisters” — singular or plural?
Should I use 'was' or 'were' in this example?
I was always delighted when my brother or one of my sisters was/were asked to do them.
2
votes
1answer
58 views
Group difference or Group Differences [closed]
I am comparing males with females and young adults (18 to 44 years) and adults (45 to 65 years). I want to say:
The group difference based on gender and age is very small.
The group differences ...
