’ ... is / are examples ... ‘
Hello, everyone,
“Discussion about the price of the goods to be purchased, the amount of capital to be contributed to a joint venture, the interest to be charged by a lender, and the royalty rate to be paid by a trademark licensee are examples of issues involving the distribution value.“
1) While I feel the author used ‘are’ for the multiple subjects with "Discussion (about ~ ), the amount (of ~ ), the interest (to be ~ ), and the royalty rate (to be paid ~ ),
2) is there a possibility that we could use ‘is’ when we view the subject as singular – with the construction "Discussion (about [1], [2], [3], and [4])“? Or,
3) might the author have neglected to add ‘s’ behind "Discussion<s> (about [1], [2], [3], and [4]) <are> examples of ~ "?
I’m personally inclined to his original thought of ‘the multiple subjects’.
* source; 'The Global Negotiator'
Top answer
deepcosmos 2) is there a possibility that we could use ‘is’ when we view the subject as singular – with the construction "Discussion (about [1], [2], [3], and [4])“? Or, Funny, but that is how I naturally tried to read it first go. It is an unfortunate sentence, but the grammar is clear once you've read it right.
- deepcosmos 2) is there a possibility that we could use ‘is’ when we view the subject as singular – with the construction "Discussion (about [1], [2], [3], and [4])“?
- Or, Funny, but that is how I naturally tried to read it first go.
- It is an unfortunate sentence, but the grammar is clear once you've read it right.
- You have a multiple subject and a plural predicate nominative.
- The verb has to be "are".
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deepcosmos2) is there a possibility that we could use ‘is’ when we view the subject as singular – with the construction "Discussion (about [1], [2], [3], and [4])“? Or,
Funny, but that is how I naturally tried to read it first go. It is an unfortunate sentence, but the grammar is clear once you've read it right. You have a multiple subject and a plural pred
0I highly doubt that any native speaker, who comes across the sentence trying to decipher the meaning of it, not the form, would notice the 'number disagreement' between the Subject and the Verb.
Having said that, I believe the only proper way to parse the string of words from discussion to licensee is the one where discussion is the head of the NP as a whole, and th
0
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