Timeline for Subject-verb agreement with plural nouns
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 17, 2014 at 2:09 | comment | added | jocap | I've left my own answer, but you're right in that "another factor are his enemies" would be a grammatically correct way of saying it that would probably never be said. | |
| Dec 17, 2014 at 1:56 | comment | added | Gary Botnovcan | Nothing ambiguous at all, and there are no objects in those sentences. These are subjects linked to predicate nominative subject complements. Word order matters. "The thing that makes me feel alive is goals." "His enemies are another factor." On the other hand, "The thing that makes me feel alive, goals are" and "Another factor, his enemies are." Even when the complement precedes the subject, word order makes each role clear. | |
| Dec 17, 2014 at 1:43 | comment | added | jocap | In the examples in question, it was unclear what the subject and object were. With the verb be, you can reverse the sentence and it still makes sense. "I am John." "John is I/me." Your own example isn't really relevant. | |
| Dec 17, 2014 at 1:38 | history | answered | Gary Botnovcan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |