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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

is, are

Hi,

In the following, I think 'are' should be used, but the text uses 'is'. Which is correct?

Thanks!

'At the same time, the strategic employment of the notion of 'terrorism' and attempts to use it to legitimate military actions against nations and movements considered to be enemies IS/ARE leading rapidly, at this time of writing, to a fundamental restructuring of the global circumstance and a certain tentativeness about the use of the concept of globalization.'
  

Top answer

I agree that it should be are: the strategic employments... and attempts to use it... are...

— BarbaraPA

  • I agree that it should be are: the strategic employments...
  • and attempts to use it...
  • are...
  • However, I've never come across "legitimate" as a verb before.
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5 Answers
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I agree that it should be are: the strategic employments... and attempts to use it... are...

However, I've never come across "legitimate" as a verb before.
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That's probably my poor typing.

Thanks for your help...

Emotion: smile
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The correct word is "legitimize".
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I checked the document again, and the author does indeed use 'legitimate'.
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Oh, yes, I believed that it was. The dictionary does show it as a transitive verb, but I have never seen it used that way before. It certainly gives the writing an "academic" flavor.

I wouldn't use it myself, but if you do, the last syllable is "mate" not the "mitt" of the adjective version.
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