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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

plural or singular? Whose right me or the husband?

0 My husband and I disagree on this sentence. 02br
00 I say it's "Collecting and picking plants are prohibited" and02br
00 he says it should be "Collecting and picking plants is prohibited"02br
02br
00 I feel that that "Collecting plants is prohibited" or "Picking plants is prohibited", but when you put "Collecting and picking" together you should use the plural "are". 02br
02br
00 This is a sentence on an interpretive sign and I'd like it to be grammathically correct. 02br
00 Any help appreciatied. 0-
  

Top answer

0What's the difference between collecting and picking? I can't collect without picking can I? Or do you mean actually digging the up?

— BarbaraPA

  • 0What's the difference between collecting and picking?
  • I can't collect without picking can I?
  • Or do you mean actually digging the up?
  • "0-
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11 Answers
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0What's the difference between collecting and picking? I can't collect without picking can I? Or do you mean actually digging the up? If that's the case, then they are two activivites, and I would vote for "are."02br
02br
00Or you can take a completeley different approach, and say something like "Please enjoy the plants while you are here, but do not collect, pick, or disturb
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0 Yes some people just pick the flowers off plants, and other collect them by digging them up and taking them home. Both activities are illegal in this park. 02br
00 The longer sentence is clearer, unfortunately space restrictions require the shorter version. 02br
02br
00 Thank you for the help. Is it safe to tell the hubby that I was right????0-
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0I'm never one to advocate for telling your spouse you were right and he was wrong... but perhaps you could point out that if he were to shift his perspective to consider them as separate activities which therefore require a plural verb, you might find your views are back in agreement? 050010id1
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0 In my opinion it should be singular since the setence is ambiguous and there is no quantifier. The grammar geek, by saying activities, is adding a quantifier hence givimg a datum by which to judge singular and plural but this does not exist in the original. By the way your question "Whose right me or the husband?" should read "Who's right my husband or I?"0-
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0 I've tried that and he agrees they are 2 activities. He just thinks the other sentence sounds better. 02br
00 And he has no problem letting me know when he's right, so it's my turn. Sharing is an important part of marriage. 02br
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10 By the way your question "Whose right me or the husband?" should read 11b10"Who's right my husband or I?12b10"12br
12blockquote
11b00"Who's right, my husband or I?02b00" (There should be a comma after 'right'.)0-
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0 Yes I realized it should be "Who's" after I posted, but couldn't edit it, 0-
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0The other way out is to use "or." When you have nouns linked by an "or," you use a verb that agrees with the last one listed. I thought about that after I logged out last night.02br
02br
01b00The picking or collection of plants is prohibited02b00.02br
02br
00(As an aside to the anonymous poster, you'll see that we had further conversati
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0 Hi,02br
00I would say it's your husband who is right, but this time it's not because I'm sexist 05002br
00Here's what I think, it's just my opinion but I hope I'm not completely wrong:02br
02br
00Picking and collecting these plants 01i01b00is02b02i00 prohibited. - 01font00That act
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0 I agree w/Kooyeen that "is" sounds better. I think I'll use Grammer Geek's idea to use "or"02br
00 instead of "and". That should make us both happy. 02br
00 Just to put your minds at ease. I did not tell my husband I was right.02br
00 Thanks for the help and suggestions.0-
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