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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Verbs
We have a poster in our office which reads
"one in five homeless people are employed." Our editor says the subject of the sentence is people and the verb should be are.
I contend this is incorrect, and the sentence should read "one in five homeless people is employed," and the subject of the sentence is "one."
can you opine? thanks!
"one in five homeless people are employed." Our editor says the subject of the sentence is people and the verb should be are.
I contend this is incorrect, and the sentence should read "one in five homeless people is employed," and the subject of the sentence is "one."
can you opine? thanks!
Top answer
You win. 'One' is the subject, with 'in five homeless people' a prepositional adjective modifier. I suppose one could make a case for one-in-five equalling 20%: '20% are employed'.
- You win.
- 'One' is the subject, with 'in five homeless people' a prepositional adjective modifier.
- I suppose one could make a case for one-in-five equalling 20%: '20% are employed'.
- But structured as it is, it seems to me obvious that 'one is employed'.
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1 Answers
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You win. 'One' is the subject, with 'in five homeless people' a prepositional adjective modifier. I suppose one could make a case for one-in-five equalling 20%: '20% are employed'. But structured as it is, it seems to me obvious that 'one is employed'.
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