is / are??

Question

Hi there,I found two sentences in an English textbooks on writing skills:On one page, the writer wrote:1. There are no opening and closing paragraphs. But on another page, the writer wrote:2. There is obviously an opening and closing to this letter which is separated from the main point of the letter. So, is or are??? which one is correct?peter

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

In the first one, what follows immediately after the verb is a plural - paragraphs.

In the second one, what follows immedately after the verb is "an opening" - clearly singular. Although you can argue "an opening and closing" is clearly plural, having a plural verb right before "an opening" would be clearly "off."

You may want to do a little bit of reading on "there is." It doesn't always behave like you think it should.

Bokeh · Answer

Grammar GeekIt doesn't always behave ~~like~~ as you think it should.

Yoong Liat · Answer

Bokeh
Grammar GeekIt doesn't always behave ~~like~~ as you think it should.

1. It doesn't always behave like you think it should.

2. It doesn't always behave as you think it should.

I remember reading that #1 is AmE, while #2 is BrE.

Bokeh · Answer

Yoong Liat1. It doesn't always behave like you think it should.

2. It doesn't always behave as you think it should.

I remember reading that #1 is AmE, while #2 is BrE.

I was just teasing really but seeing as you've introduced the British/American argument here's what "The Elements of Style", (an American work,) has to say:

Like. Not to be used for the conjunction as. Like governs nouns and pronouns; before phrases and clauses the equivalent word is as.

The use of like for as has its defenders; they argue that any usage that achieves currency becomes valid automatically. This, they say, is the way the language is formed. It is and it isn't. An expression sometimes merely enjoys a vogue, much as an article of apparel does. Like has long been widely misused by the illiterate; lately it has been taken up by the knowing and the well- informed, who find it catchy, or liberating, and who use it as though they were slumming. If every word or device that achieved currency were immediately authenticated, simply on the ground of popularity, the language would be as chaotic as a ball game with no foul lines. For the student, perhaps the most useful thing to know about like is that most carefully edited publications regard its use before phrases and clauses as simple error.

Cool Breeze · Answer

BokehThe use of like for as has its defenders; they argue that any usage that achieves currency becomes valid automatically. This, they say, is the way the language is formed. It is and it isn't. An expression sometimes merely enjoys a vogue, much as an article of apparel does. Like has long been widely misused by the illiterate; lately it has been taken up by the knowing and the well- informed, who find it catchy, or liberating, and who use it as though they were slumming.

Hi Bokeh

This is what The Random House Unabridged Dictionary (an American one) says about like:

—Usage. LIKE as a conjunction meaning “as, in the same way as” (Many shoppers study the food ads like brokers study market reports) or “as if ” (It looks like it will rain) has been used for nearly 500 years and by many distinguished literary and intellectual figures. Since the mid-19th century there have been objections, often vehement, to these uses. Nevertheless, such uses are almost universal today in all but the most formal speech and writing. In extremely careful speech and in much formal writing, as, as if, and as though are more commonly used than LIKE: The commanding general accepted full responsibility for the incident, as any professional soldier would. Many of the Greenwich Village bohemians lived as if (or as though) there were no tomorrow.

Those who wrote the style manual don't seem to know very much about the history of like. Style manuals are often written by laymen who are ignorant of the history of the English language. This "vogue" to object to the use of like instead of as is just about 150 years old as compared with the 500-year-old usage like has enjoyed as a conjunction.

Cheers
CB

Anonymous · Answer

hi there,

thanks for you answers, but i dont understand what is 'off' meant?

peter

BarbaraPA · Answer

It will sound odd, funny, wrong.

is / are??

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