Compound Subject-Verb Agreement

Question

The following sentence has me perplexed. I'm not sure what the subject is and proper use of the verb "is" or "are" should be.

Accessing public web and FTP sites are not methods of remote access.

Is "accessing" the subject or is the phrase "accessing public web and ftp sites" a compound subject? Please advise.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]The following sentence has me perplexed. I'm not sure what the subject is and proper use of the verb "is" or "are" should be.[/nq]
For maximal clarity, the last sentence above should be:

I'm not sure what the subject is, or ('and' is also OK) what the proper use of the verb "is" or "are" should be.
[nq:1]Accessing public web and FTP sites are not methods of remote access. Is "accessing" the subject or is the phrase "accessing public web and ftp sites" a compound subject? Please advise.[/nq]
The whole gerund clause, with a single gerund "accessing" and reduced compound direct object "public web and ftp sites", is the subject. As a clause, it's officially singular, and thus officially governs "is".

However, that official verdict flies in the face of the obvious intent of the speaker (or writer), to the effect that the two types of sites should be considered plural, as witness the plural "methods" following is/are. The fact that the speaker felt it necessary to distinguish web from ftp and to use "methods" instead of "method" shows that they wanted to distinguish ftp from web, though the way it was done makes it unclear whether the "public" applies to both "web" and "ftp" or to "web" only; the "sites" is clearly applicable to both.

The solution (as it so often is) is for the speaker to start over and decide clearly whether
a) they want to rule out web and ftp as separate methods of remote access

If so, then they shouldn't do such thorough conjunction reduction on the subject clause, and they might consider putting in all the presumed quantifiers and adverbs to make it clearer. For example:

Neither accessing public web sites nor accessing FTP sites are methods of remote access.
or
Accessing public web sites and accessing FTP sites are not methods of remote access.
b) ... or whether they want to rule out a single method, which could be either web or ftp.
If so, then the conjunction reduction is fine, though they should consider using "or" instead of "and", and "methods" has to become "a method". For example:
Accessing public web or FTP sites is not a method of remote access.

Abstract grammatical questions like which word is the subject and whether the singular or plural is 'correct' are rarely of any use in considering how best to communicate an idea. Being sure of what you want to say before you say it is generally the better idea.
-John Lawler http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler U Michigan Linguistics Dept "You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it." G.K. Chesterton

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]The following sentence has me perplexed. I'm not sure what the subject is and proper use of the verb "is" ... access. Is "accessing" the subject or is the phrase "accessing public web and ftp sites" a compound subject? Please advise.[/nq]
"Accessing public web and ftp sites" is the subject, and "Accessing" is its head with "public web and ftp sites" as the object of (the verb-like character of the noun-like use of) "Accessing".

Martin Ambuhl

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Accessing public web and FTP sites are not methods of ... public web and ftp sites" a compound subject? Please advise.[/nq]
[nq:1]The whole gerund clause, with a single gerund "accessing" and reduced compound direct object "public web and ftp sites", is ... as separate methods of remote access Neither accessing public web sites nor accessing FTP sites are methods of remote access.[/nq]
If we're going by 'official verdict', then this sentence is still incorrect, since 'neither' is traditionally held to be singular.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]The following sentence has me perplexed. I'm not sure what the subject is and proper use of the verb "is" ... access. Is "accessing" the subject or is the phrase "accessing public web and ftp sites" a compound subject? Please advise.[/nq]
"Accessing public web and ftp sites is not remote access."

Adrian

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]a) they want to rule out web and ftp as ... sites nor accessing FTP sites are methods of remote access.[/nq]
[nq:1]If we're going by 'official verdict', then this sentence is still incorrect, since 'neither' is traditionally held to be singular.[/nq]
As probably the most persistent (if hardly the most learned) defender of "neither ... are" in either usage group, I am pleased to rise to Prof. Lawler's defense (a position I rarely get to assume, because he so rarely needs it). Traditionally "neither" is singular, but since it tends to be used to join subjects that have something in common, the instinct to pluralize can be almost overwhelming. I expect "neither ... are" to overtake "neither ... is" in the very near future (and the same for other verbs).

Translation: If it's good enough for John Lawler, it's good enough for me.
(Let's hope he doesn't recant.)

Bob Lieblich
Do you have to cant before you can recant

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The following sentence has me perplexed. I'm not sure what ... public web and ftp sites" a compound subject? Please advise.[/nq]
[nq:1]"Accessing public web and ftp sites is not remote access."[/nq]
That's much better: it fixes the problem of paralleling 'accessing' and 'methods of access'. Another way to put it -
Remote access doesn't mean accessing public websites or FTP sites.

john

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"Accessing public web and ftp sites is not remote access."[/nq]
[nq:1]That's much better: it fixes the problem of paralleling 'accessing' and 'methods of access'. Another way to put it - Remote access doesn't mean accessing public websites or FTP sites.[/nq]
I'm having trouble with "ftp sites". I use Brandywine's "Free FTP" program to upload images and html documents to my isp host site. I don't think of ftp (file transfer protocol) as a site. It's a method of moving a file from my computer to my host's site. I'm not sure "method" is the best word, though.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I don't think of ftp (file transfer protocol) as a site. It's a method of moving a file from my computer to my host's site. I'm not sure "method" is the best word, though.[/nq]
You already used the best word. FTP itself is a protocol for transferring files. Using FTP is a method for transferring files.

Mike Nitabach

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]That's much better: it fixes the problem of paralleling 'accessing' ... Remote access doesn't mean accessing public websites or FTP sites.[/nq]
[nq:1]I'm having trouble with "ftp sites". I use Brandywine's "Free FTP" program to upload images and html documents to my ... of moving a file from my computer to my host's site. I'm not sure "method" is the best word, though.[/nq]
You mention your isp host site- there must be many url's there, and at least for the html ones, each appears to the user as a web site, so 'site' is liberated from any physical meaning already. I guess you could say "ftp destinations", or "ftp url's", though.
john

Compound Subject-Verb Agreement

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