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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage

The phrase "which xxx to [verb]" is singular or plural?

Hi. Thank you for the comments.
The biggest question I had was:
[nq:2]The phrase "which xxx to (verb)" is singular orplural?[/nq]
1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.
2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.
3. Which licensing conditions to apply needs to bedetermined.
4. Which licensing conditions to deliver to the userneeds to be determined. (I'm not sure about this one.)

The clause "which xxx to (verb)" is like a
shorthand for "The question of which ...".
Is this true?
Where this is true, the phrase is singular.

However,
Which condition is the problem?
Which conditions are the problem?
Which conditions for delivery are the problem?
I guess these can be distiguished from 3 and 4 above, because here "which" is used to make a question.

Could someone comment?
I'd esp. appreciate links to web pages that explain this, and reference to old Fowler (1944).
A newer edition of Fowler didn't have anything
relevant under the entry for "which".

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Top answer

[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq] Hard to tell, but..

— Usenet

  • [nq:1]Hi.
  • Thank you for the comments.
  • The biggest question I had was:[/nq] Hard to tell, but..
  • [nq:1]1.
  • [/nq] I think we want a gerund here..
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22 Answers
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[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0
0
[nq:1]Hi. Thank you for the comments. The biggest question I had was:[/nq]
Hard to tell, but..
[nq:1]1. Which letter to send is a difficult problem.[/nq]
I think we want a gerund here..
1. Determining which letter to send is a difficult problem.

Gerunds seem to be always singular this far..
[nq:1]2. Which conditions to apply is a difficult problem.[/nq]
Same here.
0

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