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Arkein Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Singular or plural? which is the subject?
Hello,
I'm confused as to which of these four sentences is correct, in particular whether the words underlined should be made to agree in the singular or plural:
1) "The direction and purpose that my life has taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
2) "The direction and purpose that my life have taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
3) "The direction and purpose that my life has taken since my studies at the Institute owes a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
4) "The direction and purpose that my life have taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
My gut feeling tells me sentence 1 is the correct one... but I'm not sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm confused as to which of these four sentences is correct, in particular whether the words underlined should be made to agree in the singular or plural:
1) "The direction and purpose that my life has taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
2) "The direction and purpose that my life have taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
3) "The direction and purpose that my life has taken since my studies at the Institute owes a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
4) "The direction and purpose that my life have taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
My gut feeling tells me sentence 1 is the correct one... but I'm not sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Top answer
" In this case HAS relates to MY LIFE and OWE relates to MY STUDIES.
- " In this case HAS relates to MY LIFE and OWE relates to MY STUDIES.
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9 Answers
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arkeinIn this case HAS relates to MY LIFE and OWE relates to MY STUDIES.
"The direction and purpose that my life has taken since my studies at the Institute owe a great deal to Professor E's tuition."
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Ah thanks...
Ok for HAS relating to MY LIFE,
But in this sentence OWE does not relate to MY STUDIES. The intended sense of the sentence relates OWE to THE DIRECTION AND PURPOSE TAKEN BY MY LIFE... I am confused whether THE DIRECTION AND PURPOSE should be taken as plural or singular...
i.e., the sentence could be rewritten:
Since my studies at the institue (i.e.
Ok for HAS relating to MY LIFE,
But in this sentence OWE does not relate to MY STUDIES. The intended sense of the sentence relates OWE to THE DIRECTION AND PURPOSE TAKEN BY MY LIFE... I am confused whether THE DIRECTION AND PURPOSE should be taken as plural or singular...
i.e., the sentence could be rewritten:
Since my studies at the institue (i.e.
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If you think of "direction and purpose" as linked then it's one idea, and it takes the singular in both places: has and owes.
If you think that the direction your life has taken and the purpose your life has taken (which is odd phrasing) are two things, then it's plural: have and owe.
Studies is NOT the subject for the verb "to owe." The subject is the "direction and purpose" of
If you think that the direction your life has taken and the purpose your life has taken (which is odd phrasing) are two things, then it's plural: have and owe.
Studies is NOT the subject for the verb "to owe." The subject is the "direction and purpose" of
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On the other hand, this is my version of your text:
"The direction and purpose that my life has taken since I finished my studies at the institute are, in a great deal, due to Professor E's tuition." (i.e. You owe a great deal what you are now)
Comments, please
;-)
"The direction and purpose that my life has taken since I finished my studies at the institute are, in a great deal, due to Professor E's tuition." (i.e. You owe a great deal what you are now)
Comments, please
;-)
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Sorry, I meant: You owe HIM a great deal what you are now.
;-)
;-)
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I like the singular: HAS, OWES. Using the plural "owe" wouldn't be bad at all, though. I wouldn't even notice, I guess.
Just my preference.
Just my preference.
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Thanks Grammar Geek, Renan & Kooyen!
So it could, technically go both ways, since THE DIRECTION AND PURPOSE could be taken either as singular or plural...
My instincts tell me the sentence with HAS and OWES sounds better too.
@ Renan: I'll give your version consideration. thanks! Although in your sentence I'd change "in a great deal" to "to a great/large extent"
So it could, technically go both ways, since THE DIRECTION AND PURPOSE could be taken either as singular or plural...
My instincts tell me the sentence with HAS and OWES sounds better too.
@ Renan: I'll give your version consideration. thanks! Although in your sentence I'd change "in a great deal" to "to a great/large extent"
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well, if you're translating a French sentence, I think you should remove the word "owe" altogether, and substitute it with another word. I guess you know direct translation doesn't really work when you're translating from one language to another. I think the best revision of the initial sentence should be Renan's version, if "in a great deal" is substituted with "to a large extent". The remaining
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