Plural and conjunction....

Question

I was reading about a “Giant sinkhole swallows three cars in Chicago” from a yahoo site. The article says, “Initially there was only two cars in the hole, but a third was hanging by the tires and eventually fell.” I think there are couple of corrections needed for the sentence? Would this be correct:  “Initially there were* only two cars in the hole.  However, a third car was hanging by the road *but eventually fell.”

Philip · Accepted Answer

I agree with your corrections.

Fivejedjon · Answer

I agree with the first correction, but think that, in this particular sentence, 'and' is possible.

CalifJim · Answer

ccInitially there ~~was~~ were only two cars in the hole, but a third was hanging by ~~the~~ its tires and eventually fell.

The only corrections I'd make are shown above, and I consider the second one optional.

'to be hanging by the road' makes no sense to me. The analogy is supposed to be of someone hanging off a cliff by only a few fingers. Since a car doesn't have a road as one of its parts, I don't see how 'by the road' is supposed to work.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

CalifJim'to be hanging by the road' makes no sense to me.

I was thinking about the 'and/but' and didn't spot the more glaring problem.

Cc · Answer

Hi CJ,

"hanging by the tires" initially did not make sense but the way you explained it sounds logical

Thanks for the correction!

CC

Plural and conjunction....

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