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Stenka25 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
A problem of AGREEMENT
The sentence below is from a political science book.
http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=nyZFZgbpdKYC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=%22essentially+the+same+structural+forms+of+politics+can%22&source=bl&ots=gm0x3otlpn&sig=qHuend8_Pbdu6FO1OM1XMxPlZd4&hl=ko&sa=X&ei=8UTRT-OXCeWJmQX346yHAw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22essentially%20the%20same%20structural%20forms%20of%20politics%20can%22&f=false
In the sentence, it seems to me that the underlined part should be like "Democracies can beand typically are distinguished" so "be" can be agreed with "distinguished."
Am I right?
(I'm not saying the part is absolutely wrong, I'm just asking whether "be" can be inserted to make a suitable agreement. I know there are many cases in sentences that seem to be wrong in terms of grammatical sense, but OK in a sense of usage.)
For example, a dictatorship can, in theory, be brutal or benevolent; anarchy can, in theory, consist of "mutual aid" or a "war of all against all" that proceeds in the absence of any rule of law whatsoever; democracies can and typically are distinguished in terms of the extent to which they are socially oriented as opposed to individualistically oriented.
http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=nyZFZgbpdKYC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=%22essentially+the+same+structural+forms+of+politics+can%22&source=bl&ots=gm0x3otlpn&sig=qHuend8_Pbdu6FO1OM1XMxPlZd4&hl=ko&sa=X&ei=8UTRT-OXCeWJmQX346yHAw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22essentially%20the%20same%20structural%20forms%20of%20politics%20can%22&f=false
In the sentence, it seems to me that the underlined part should be like "Democracies can beand typically are distinguished" so "be" can be agreed with "distinguished."
Am I right?
(I'm not saying the part is absolutely wrong, I'm just asking whether "be" can be inserted to make a suitable agreement. I know there are many cases in sentences that seem to be wrong in terms of grammatical sense, but OK in a sense of usage.)
For example, a dictatorship can, in theory, be brutal or benevolent; anarchy can, in theory, consist of "mutual aid" or a "war of all against all" that proceeds in the absence of any rule of law whatsoever; democracies can and typically are distinguished in terms of the extent to which they are socially oriented as opposed to individualistically oriented.
Top answer
I agree with you, and I'll go further to say that I think the passage as you've reproduced it needs the "be".
- I agree with you, and I'll go further to say that I think the passage as you've reproduced it needs the "be".
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1 Answers
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I agree with you, and I'll go further to say that I think the passage as you've reproduced it needs the "be".
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