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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
The Incoherence Between Subjects and Verbs in Some Cases
Hello.
I read these sentances below in some TOEFL and TOEIC preparation books. I would truly appreciate it if someone can explain the incoherence between subjects and verbs in these cases.
Case 1: "I'm so happy to see you again. Three weeks is a long time."
Case 2: "I think twice a week is enough." "Two times is hardly enough."
Case 3: "How many more stops is it until New York?" "That's another three stops down the line."
Thank you.
I read these sentances below in some TOEFL and TOEIC preparation books. I would truly appreciate it if someone can explain the incoherence between subjects and verbs in these cases.
Case 1: "I'm so happy to see you again. Three weeks is a long time."
Case 2: "I think twice a week is enough." "Two times is hardly enough."
Case 3: "How many more stops is it until New York?" "That's another three stops down the line."
Thank you.
Top answer
The problem is that there is really no incoherence; those are all very common native utterances. Even a real TOEFL/TOEIC test would not include these as ungrammatical. However, this is what your prep book wants you to see: Case 1: "I'm so happy to see you again.
- The problem is that there is really no incoherence; those are all very common native utterances.
- Even a real TOEFL/TOEIC test would not include these as ungrammatical.
- However, this is what your prep book wants you to see: Case 1: "I'm so happy to see you again.
- " Keep in mind that although the strict grammatical number of subject and verb are not in concord, native speakers often, even normally, conceive of the plural nouns as singular quantities.
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4 Answers
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The problem is that there is really no incoherence; those are all very common native utterances. Even a real TOEFL/TOEIC test would not include these as ungrammatical. However, this is what your prep book wants you to see:
Case 1: "I'm so happy to see you again. Three weeks are a long time."
Case 2: "I think twice a week is enough." "Two times are har
Case 1: "I'm so happy to see you again. Three weeks are a long time."
Case 2: "I think twice a week is enough." "Two times are har
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Thank you very much for your kind reply.
I see your point. Grammatical rules do not necessarily apply to native speakers. That is exactly where the difficulty is for non-native speakers to attain native speaking level. Regarding cases, I guess I should just deal with them by memorizing them.
However, are there any other similar cases where native speakers feel like matching plura
I see your point. Grammatical rules do not necessarily apply to native speakers. That is exactly where the difficulty is for non-native speakers to attain native speaking level. Regarding cases, I guess I should just deal with them by memorizing them.
However, are there any other similar cases where native speakers feel like matching plura
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However, are there any other similar cases where native speakers feel like matching plural nouns with singular verbs? -- Some other instances:
The team is eager to win.
My family is moving to Bangkok.
Six cans of beer always makes me drunk.
The team is eager to win.
My family is moving to Bangkok.
Six cans of beer always makes me drunk.
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"Subjects that stand for definable units of money, measurement, time, organization, food and medical problems always take singular verbs."
(http://www.grammaruntied.com/blog/?p=319 )
"Collective nouns may take either a singular or plu
(http://www.grammaruntied.com/blog/?p=319 )
"Collective nouns may take either a singular or plu
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