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JungKim Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Agreement

"Public ads targeting individual consumers is actually a growing trend."
In this sentence, is the subject-verb agreement correct?
If the subject is ads, then the verb should be "are".
If the subject is the gerund phrase, then the verb should be "is".
What do you think?
  

Top answer

I think it is poorly composed. The writer would have us think of 'public ads targeting individual consumers' as a singular concept, but it contains too many plurals to support that firmly. It is certainly grammatically possible as it stands, but it really needs recasting: Advertisement targeting the individual consumer is actually a growing trend.

— Mister Micawber

  • I think it is poorly composed.
  • The writer would have us think of 'public ads targeting individual consumers' as a singular concept, but it contains too many plurals to support that firmly.
  • It is certainly grammatically possible as it stands, but it really needs recasting: Advertisement targeting the individual consumer is actually a growing trend.
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4 Answers
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I think it is poorly composed. The writer would have us think of 'public ads targeting individual consumers' as a singular concept, but it contains too many plurals to support that firmly. It is certainly grammatically possible as it stands, but it really needs recasting:

Advertisement targeting the individual consumer is actually a growing trend.
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Mister MicawberAdvertisement targeting the individual consumer is actually a growing trend.
So I guess in the original sentence you see the gerund clause as the subject. Am I right?
What about your revised sentence?
What do you think is the subject of your sentence, "advertisement" or "advertisement targeting the individual consumer"?
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So I guess in the original sentence you see the gerund clause as the subject. Am I right?-- I have already shown you the grammatical subject in my previous post.

What about your revised sentence? What do you think is the subject of your sentence, "advertisement" or "advertisement targeting the individual consumer"?-- One is the simple subject; the other is the com
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JungKim"Public ads targeting individual consumers is actually a growing trend."
Generally speaking, I think using correct terminology and phrases in the construction certainly help eliminate the awkwardness in sentences. I also agree that this is a poorly composed sentence because "public ad" is not what I would consider a natural phrase, As MM suggested, "adv
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