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Rosenholz Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
With [singular thing] come [multiple things]?
In the above sentence, would it be 'come' or 'comes'?
e.g.
With success come problems
or
With success comes problems
I'm sure it would be 'come' (after all, you say 'Problems come with success', so when you switch the word order round surely it would be the same?), but my work colleagues are adamant it should be 'comes'.
Thankyou!
e.g.
With success come problems
or
With success comes problems
I'm sure it would be 'come' (after all, you say 'Problems come with success', so when you switch the word order round surely it would be the same?), but my work colleagues are adamant it should be 'comes'.
Thankyou!
Top answer
Welcome to English Forums, rosenholz. Yes, grammatically it should be [problems] come . However, your colleagues reflect a very common usage which is certainly accepted informally without thinking twice nowadays.
- Welcome to English Forums, rosenholz.
- Yes, grammatically it should be [problems] come .
- However, your colleagues reflect a very common usage which is certainly accepted informally without thinking twice nowadays.
- You could solve the problem by choosing an uncountable subject, as for instance ' with success comes difficulty/challenge/frustration '.
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7 Answers
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Welcome to English Forums, rosenholz.
Yes, grammatically it should be [problems] come. However, your colleagues reflect a very common usage which is certainly accepted informally without thinking twice nowadays. You could solve the problem by choosing an uncountable subject, as for instance 'with success comes difficulty/challenge/frustration'.
Yes, grammatically it should be [problems] come. However, your colleagues reflect a very common usage which is certainly accepted informally without thinking twice nowadays. You could solve the problem by choosing an uncountable subject, as for instance 'with success comes difficulty/challenge/frustration'.
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Thankyou for your response.
You say 'comes' is accepted informally - how about formally? The sentence in question is the title of a business meeting.
We can't change the nouns (the sentence must be 'with progress come challenges') - the only quibble is whether to put the 's' on the end of 'come'!
You say 'comes' is accepted informally - how about formally? The sentence in question is the title of a business meeting.
We can't change the nouns (the sentence must be 'with progress come challenges') - the only quibble is whether to put the 's' on the end of 'come'!
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There is no question as to grammatical correctness: the subject is plural 'challenges' (or 'problems'), so the verb is plural 'come'. 'With progress/success' is a prepositional phrase functioning as a fronted adverb in the sentence.
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Not so sure.
It's true that problems do come with success.
But the construction of "With success comes problems." omits some words and ideas that are implicitly understood. It really says, "Success always brings problems of some sort."
Not sure this argument will hold up under the rules of grammar, but "success" seemes to be the driver, the primary subject, while derivin
It's true that problems do come with success.
But the construction of "With success comes problems." omits some words and ideas that are implicitly understood. It really says, "Success always brings problems of some sort."
Not sure this argument will hold up under the rules of grammar, but "success" seemes to be the driver, the primary subject, while derivin
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Well, you could say, "Problems come with success."
But that can be interpreted to mean either "Problems always accompany success." or "Problems are always accompanied by success." And as we all know, this latter isn't necessarily true.
"With success comes problems." pretty clearly means: "Success is always accompanied by problems."
Besides, "With my wife co
But that can be interpreted to mean either "Problems always accompany success." or "Problems are always accompanied by success." And as we all know, this latter isn't necessarily true.
"With success comes problems." pretty clearly means: "Success is always accompanied by problems."
Besides, "With my wife co
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With success (X) comes problems-- I repeat, it cannot be done grammatically. 'With success' is just an adverb, not the subject. The subject is 'problems'. Putting the sentence this way is a style choice over 'Problems come with success', that is all.
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