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Modelrrguy Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Subject-verb agreement?
A sentence from an English paper I'm working on:
The fulfillment of Tarwater’s destiny, and Tarwater’s lingering “hunger” (248-9, 255/6) for religion in spite of his efforts to avoid prophethood, demonstrate that religion cannot be escaped.
Should the verb be demonstrate or demonstrates? The other option (and perhaps the most gramatically correct one) would be to remove the commas, but I think that makes it a little hard to follow.
The fulfillment of Tarwater’s destiny, and Tarwater’s lingering “hunger” (248-9, 255/6) for religion in spite of his efforts to avoid prophethood, demonstrate that religion cannot be escaped.
Should the verb be demonstrate or demonstrates? The other option (and perhaps the most gramatically correct one) would be to remove the commas, but I think that makes it a little hard to follow.
Top answer
Hi rguy, Welcome to the forums! Thanks for joining us. The number of the verb (plural) is correct.
- Hi rguy, Welcome to the forums!
- Thanks for joining us.
- The number of the verb (plural) is correct.
- There are two subjects, fulfillment and hunger .
- If you remove the modifier "in spite of his efforts to avoid prophethood," you'll see it, I'm sure.
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4 Answers
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Hi rguy, Welcome to the forums! Thanks for joining us.
The number of the verb (plural) is correct. There are two subjects, fulfillment and hunger. If you remove the modifier "in spite of his efforts to avoid prophethood," you'll see it, I'm sure.
Best wishes, - A.
The number of the verb (plural) is correct. There are two subjects, fulfillment and hunger. If you remove the modifier "in spite of his efforts to avoid prophethood," you'll see it, I'm sure.
Best wishes, - A.
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I agree with Avangi. IMO, the commas should be removed as you said. To me, they are not necessary.
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ok, thanks. I'll remove the commas and keep the plural verb then.
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I think the thing that makes it difficult to parse is the imbalance between the two subjects. The second is nearly three times as long as the first. The commas may help as markers for the second subject.
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