Singular or plural?

Question

Is an apple as well as an orange considered to be healthy enough in a meal?The sentence above is right or not? Please explain your choice

Loojka · Accepted Answer

I'd rather use plural ('Are apples and oranges considered healthy') and I would also leave out 'enough'? Why? Because you're not talking about one orange or one apple, but generally talking about these two kinds of fruit... aren't you?

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,

Is an apple or an orange considered...
Are an apple and an orange considered...

I wouldn't use "as well as" there. But maybe it's just me...

Loojka · Answer

I wouldn't either. However, if it is necessary to emphasize, I would use 'both' instead.
Are apples and oranges both considered...

Belly · Answer

But are "as well as" and "and" equivalent?

Hoa Thai · Answer

BellyBut are "as well as" and "and" equivalent?

Dear Belly,

This is my limited knowledge:

as well as means in addition to. Benno C. Schmidt, Jr., a former president of Yale University said, "“The rhetoric [of the Justices], as well as the reasoning, is appreciated.” So, I would assume is acceptable.

"Are 'as well as' and 'and' equivalent," you asked. I was taught to stay away from 'as well as' to mean 'and'. Here is a sentence that shows using 'as well as', in the place of 'and', could cause confusion:

John instructed, "remember to paint this chair as well as that table." Do you think John mean:
a) paint both the chair and the table.
or
b) paint the chair so it will look as good as the table.

Best Regards,
Hoa Thai

Belly · Answer

Thanks Hoa Thai for useful information, but Micheal Swan wrote in his book:

Note the difference between:

She sings as well as playing the piano (= She not only plays, but also sings)

She sings as well as she plays the piano (= Her singing is as good as her playing)

Hoa Thai · Answer

BellyThanks Hoa Thai for useful information, but Micheal Swan wrote in his book:

Note the difference between:

She sings as well as playing the piano (= She not only plays, but also sings)

She sings as well as she plays the piano (= Her singing is as good as her playing)

Dear Belly,

I am glad to see your examples, which show me that you've found 'as well as' is not exactly the same as 'and'. My words shared with you earlier was to just to caution you not to simply trade 'and' for 'as well as'.

Regarding the two sentences that you quoted, the first one follows the following rule that I found from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv53.shtml

"When we use as well as - similar in meaning and usage to in addition to - as a subordinating conjunction, the '-ing' form in the verb which follows is required:

'As well as playing tennis with Steve three times during the week, I (also) play badminton with my wife at the weekend.'
'In addition to working on his Ph.D. dissertation, he (also) translates articles for The Weekly Review.'

The second one deals with parallelism - could you see the same grammar structure on both sides of 'as well as'?

I hope that helps answer your question. If I do not make any senses, you would hear more from our moderators.

Best wishes,
Hoa Thai

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