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HSS Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Was/Were
I just want to get confirmation ...
[1] Billions of dollars in trade was/were carried over the Santa Fe Trail by wagons.
[2] A lot of dollars in trade was/were carried over the Santa Fe Trail by wagons.
[1] This is highly likely taking about '(a total of) billions of dollars.' So you would most likely choose 'was.'
[2] If you saw the sentence conveying an idea that a lot of money had come and gone over the trail each time, you would select 'were.' Otherwise, you would choose 'was.'
Any and all suggestion would be welcome.
Hiro
[1] Billions of dollars in trade was/were carried over the Santa Fe Trail by wagons.
[2] A lot of dollars in trade was/were carried over the Santa Fe Trail by wagons.
[1] This is highly likely taking about '(a total of) billions of dollars.' So you would most likely choose 'was.'
[2] If you saw the sentence conveying an idea that a lot of money had come and gone over the trail each time, you would select 'were.' Otherwise, you would choose 'was.'
Any and all suggestion would be welcome.
Hiro
Top answer
1-- I think I'd used 'were'-- the context is so obviously of repeated journeys. 2-- As above, but the informal fixed quantifier 'a lot of' seems out of place in the sentence.
- 1-- I think I'd used 'were'-- the context is so obviously of repeated journeys.
- 2-- As above, but the informal fixed quantifier 'a lot of' seems out of place in the sentence.
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1 Answers
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1-- I think I'd used 'were'-- the context is so obviously of repeated journeys.
2-- As above, but the informal fixed quantifier 'a lot of' seems out of place in the sentence.
2-- As above, but the informal fixed quantifier 'a lot of' seems out of place in the sentence.
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