"command" or "commands"

Question

A. But tell me dear guest, which oceans or what tide commands his loyalty.

B. But tell me dear guest, which oceans or what tide command his loyalty.

Which of these is correct? I am confused by the plural(oceans) and singular(tide). Please ignore the context and let me know if in this case I would need to use "command" or "commands".

Thanks and much appreciated!

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

Commands.

The sentence is missing a comma and a question mark.

AskAndAnswer · Answer

But tell me dear guest, which oceans or what tide commands his loyalty?

Where should the comma be? after oceans or tide?

thanks!

RandomGuy · Answer

After <i>me</i>.

Enoon · Answer

Aspara GusThe sentence is missing ... a question mark.

You sure? It isn't a question the way I see it. It's equivalent to "Tell me which turtle gets his attention."

RandomGuy · Answer

enoonIt's equivalent to "Tell me which turtle gets his attention."

Ah, you're probably right. The pause led me to misread the sentence as something like Tell me: what is your business here? in which the question mark is mandatory.

In my misinterpretation, I also overlooked a comma splice. Depending on the desired effect of the writer, the sentence may or may not have a question mark with the right punctuation:

But tell me, dear guest, which oceans or what tide commands his loyalty.
But tell me, dear guest [: / ; / .] which oceans or what tide commands his loyalty?

"command" or "commands"

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