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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
one of the ... if not 'the' ...
I am having problems with the construction "One of the greatest, if not 'the' greatest .... (president/artist/singer/etc...) .... which form goes the noun in, singular or plural? Both seem to be not quite accurate ... but which is the more accepted form?
Top answer
Use plural if there is more than one: The greatest military leaders in history were Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, Hannibal, Sun Tsu and..... Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military leader s in history. (one among many) Use singular if there is one and only one: Elvis Presley was the greatest rock singer of the 1950's.
- Use plural if there is more than one: The greatest military leaders in history were Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, Hannibal, Sun Tsu and.....
- Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military leader s in history.
- (one among many) Use singular if there is one and only one: Elvis Presley was the greatest rock singer of the 1950's.
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3 Answers
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Use plural if there is more than one:
The greatest military leaders in history were Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, Hannibal, Sun Tsu and.....
Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military leaders in history. (one among many)
Use singular if there is one and only one:
Elvis Presley was the greatest rock singer of the 1950'
The greatest military leaders in history were Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, Hannibal, Sun Tsu and.....
Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military leaders in history. (one among many)
Use singular if there is one and only one:
Elvis Presley was the greatest rock singer of the 1950'
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well, thanks but that's not quite what I asked. I want to exactly say "He is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest [artist/artists] of the 20th century". The first half of the sentence would need plural, the second half of the sentence would need a singular noun, so, combined into one sentence, what does one use?
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Us the one that is nearest.
He is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest artist of the 20th century"
He is one of the greatest artists, if not THE greatest, of the 20th century"
He is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest artist of the 20th century"
He is one of the greatest artists, if not THE greatest, of the 20th century"
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