...one of those rare novels that have[or is it has?] changed...

Question

Hello community.

I was reading the back of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. And I'm confused about this sentence:

First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature.

Shouldn't have be changed to has so the sentence reads:

First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that has changed the shape of American literature.

Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Welcome to the forums!

palomitasHello community. I was reading the back of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. And I'm confused about this sentence: First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature.Shouldn't have be changed to has so the sentence reads:First published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece,
Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that has changed the shape
of American literature.Thank you.

In the underlined clause, one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature, "novels" is the antecedent of the pronoun "that." Since this word is plural, the verb "have" is selected to be in agreement.

The author is saying "Some rare novels have changed the shape of American literature. This is one of them."

Avangi · Answer

palomitasFirst published in 1952 and immediately hailed as a masterpiece, Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature.

I'd say the plural verb is correct.

It all depends on what you mean. Is your subject really singular, or is it plural? Is it "one," or is it "novels"?

If you wish to make it clearly singular, you can add the definite article:
Invisible Man is the one of those rare novels that has changed the shape.
(This suggests that this novel is primary.)

When both are possible, we usually choose the closer. But, "One of my nails is broken."
(In your example, the real subject is "that," and we have to back up to find the antecedent.)

You can reword the sentence to move the plural antecedent farther away:
Among these novels, this is one that has changed the shape. (different meaning)

You can't really escape the author's intentention that ALL of these "rare" novels have changed the shape.
It's wrong to try.

Welcome to English Forums, palomitas. Thanks for joining us! [<:o)]

Best wishes, - A.

Palomitas · Answer

Thanks for the swift replies. And thank you for the warm welcome, Avangi and AlpheccaStars.

I am looking at this sentence:

Invisible Man is one of those rare novels that have changed the shape of American literature.

And when I see "one of" I think "has" should follow it because the subject (one) is singular.

in other words I look at: ...one of those rare novels that... as a prepositional phrase, so "one" should
have the singular verb "has".

Avangi · Answer

palomitas the subject (one) is singular.

The problem is that the real subject of the verb is "that." The verb is in a relative clause.
As a relative pronoun, "that" may be singular or plural. So you have to look for the antecedent.

With "One of her nails is broken," "nails" can't be the subject, because (as you say) it's object of the preposition.
It can, however be the antecedent for the subject of a "that" clause.

One of her nails, that are always so perfect, is broken.

Palomitas · Answer

Ok, I think I got it now. From my error, can you recommend grammar topics which you believe will help me improve in this area? Or am I asking to broad of a question?

Avangi · Answer

Antecedents and relative clauses are good topics. I don't have specific articles handy. Sorry.

Maybe, "verb agreement in relative clauses."

http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/SubjectVerb.html

Palomitas · Answer

AvangiI don't have specific articles handy. Sorry.

That's not neccesssary. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. [Y]

Avangi · Answer

That link I gave you is worthless!  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/10.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/10.gif' alt='Emotion: embarrassed'/>

Palomitas · Answer

AvangiThat link I gave you is worthless!

Are you sure?

I visited the link and found the section on...

"When a relative pronoun is used as a subject of an adjective clause"

...to be closely related, if not almost exactly, to what you have explained here:

From the website you link me to:

Mary is one of the students who have done honor to the college.

(Adjective clause modifies the plural noun "students." "Students" is the antecedent of "who."

In the above sentence Mary is just one of the students. So at least two students have done honor to the college.

Compare that to:

Mary is the only one of our students who has achieved national recognition.

In this case, "one," not "students," is the antecedent of "who."

Compare to the sentence above:

Of all our students, Mary is the only one who has achieved national recognition.

Palomitas · Answer

(Double post sorry.)

...one of those rare novels that have[or is it has?] changed...

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