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Scarf car 641 Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Is vs. Are with plural subject

I see these types of issues so often, I start questioning my own sanity. Here's a direct quote from a news article:

"A Michigan man who, along with his wife, is facing felony murder charges."

This is incorrect in my eyes because the sentence contains plural subjects (man, wife) and should have the plural verb (are). Am I crazy?

  

Top answer

scarf car 641 This is incorrect in my eyes because the sentence contains plural subjects The subject in the clause ( It is not a sentence but a noun phrase with a relative clause) is singular, "who", and is followed by a prepositional phrase: along with his wife. "Wife" is the complement of the preposition "of"; it cannot simultaneously be the subject of the verb. "

  • scarf car 641 This is incorrect in my eyes because the sentence contains plural subjects The subject in the clause ( It is not a sentence but a noun phrase with a relative clause) is singular, "who", and is followed by a prepositional phrase: along with his wife.
  • "Wife" is the complement of the preposition "of"; it cannot simultaneously be the subject of the verb.
  • "
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2 Answers
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scarf car 641This is incorrect in my eyes because the sentence contains plural subjects

The subject in the clause ( It is not a sentence but a noun phrase with a relative clause) is singular, "who", and is followed by a prepositional phrase: along with his wife. "Wife" is the complement of the preposition "of"; it cannot simultaneously be the subjec

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Please do not double post.

CJ

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