Has/have

Question

Every tear I cried and every prayer I prayed has/have brought me here to you.Please tell me which one to use. Shouldn't it be have because the sentence is describing two things.Thank you.

Philip · Accepted Answer

Yes: every tear and every prayer. Use have.

Enoon · Answer

It's "has". Each one has done something. The sentence is describing many things, not two, each of which has brought you there to whoever.

Grammarfreak · Answer

To be honest, I am not sure which is correct. I have done some research on the construction of "every X and every Y ". In doing so, I made sure the materials I used as reference have a respectable degree of academic credibilty. The finding doesn't surprised me. The "has" and the "have" camps seem to explained equally convincing well. However, the result seems to favor the "has" camp, which is contrary to my own opinion. And so, I kept digging. The more I read , the more I realize that perhaps, we have to evaluate each context in which " every x and every y" is written into the article. Take this one for instance: It is a publication by "WHO". On line 2 of page 6, it said "
........Please explore these pages with the desire to ensure that every woman and every child have the same opportunities for health and life and ask yourself what you can do.".

Yoong Liat · Answer

enoonIt's "has". Each one has done something. The sentence is describing many things, not two, each of which has brought you there to whoever.

Every tear I cried and every prayer I prayed has/have brought me here to you.

It should be 'has' because of 'every'.

Enoon · Answer

grammarfreak........Please explore these pages with the desire to ensure that every woman and every child have the same opportunities for health and life and ask yourself what you can do.".

That sounds dead wrong to me. I don't even feel the need to prove anything. You might as well say every good boy do fine.

Yoong Liat · Answer

1. Two nouns qualified by ‘each’ or ‘every’, even though connected by 'and' require only a singular verb.

Example-1: • Every boy and every girl is given the admission ticket to the show. In this sentence, the Subject is ‘Every boy and every girl’. Although this Subject contains two nouns and they are connected by the conjunction ‘and’, we have to use only a singular verb ‘is’, because the subject implies every one of all the students.

Example-2: • Every man and every woman was given a packet of sweets. In this sentence also, the Subject is treated as singular, so the verb is also singular. You see how in this sentence Subject-and-Verb-agreement is perfect. Examples: • Every teacher and every student has got his share of the balance amount. • Every boy and every girl in this class has applied for TOEFL. • Every man and every woman has come forward to donate some money to this organization.

Grammarfreak · Answer

My posting this exceprt wasn't intended to cause a reaction. People with good English should know, I believe, that "each", 'every" and "any" is always singular by nature. That's understood. The trap I think really came from the conjuction, "and" which usually calls for plural. i.e. John and Sue are getting married. We do not say John and Sue is getting married; do we? So when people encounter contexts with "each x and each y", without much careful deliberation, they pick the one immediately come to mind. At least, that reason is logical enough to me. The 7 page article appeared to have been written by people with good academic background, and I have little doubt about their grammatical aptitute. So is this a perception issue or simply a careless mistake; I too would like to know....
Here is its entirety if you care to give it a spin:

http://www.womenshealthsection.com/content/update/WHECUpdate2012-01.pdf

Enoon · Answer

I looked at your link, and it is indeed fairly well edited. "Have" is just a mistake, in my opinion.

Has/have

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions