lord_seagrave Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Argh! I thought I knew this, and I want it to be "is" in both cases, but the more I look at it, the more it looks wrong. Can the PW Grammar Nazis help me out with this real-life crisis? 1. The majority of Directors is/are available... 2. ...that a solid couple of hours is/are required. LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I would have said as they are both plural, it must be are But to be fair, my inglish ain't all that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 (1) ARE (2) ARE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 'Are' is almost always used when the subject is plural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun4860 Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Are to both...'innit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilR Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 IMHO it should be are and are. I only had a Secondary Modern education though, no doubt a Grammar School oik will put me right. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sha Bu Le Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 It IS ARE in both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsdad Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 IMHO it should be are and are. I only had a Secondary Modern education though, no doubt a Grammar School oik will put me right. Lol Can do better than that - my public school education allows me to agree with you lol! Definitely are in both cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 But to be fair, my inglish ain't all that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog tired Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 You is all cerrect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpk Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Are and are indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 the majority of directors are down the pub/knocking shop/shooting/with their accountant, and need a solid couple of hours to sleep the brandy off at lunchtime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_seagrave Posted January 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Well, that told me. I was focussing on the nouns "majority" and "couple" - in layman's terms, why is this wrong? You would never write "a brace of pheasants are lovely", so what's the difference? LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 You would never write "a brace of pheasants are lovely", so what's the difference? I would Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunnerbob Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 "Are" in both cases Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_seagrave Posted January 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I would As the man in the orthapaedic shoes once said - "I stand corrected..." I instinctive want to put "a brace of pheasants is lovely", but maybe that's why I've got my knickers in a twist about the ones in my original post! Thanks chaps! LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ME Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) EDIT: to say that I should have paid better attention at my private school! :lol: Fun with grammar always reminds me of my first job in freight. We had a French student there who was a bit of a div. One day he asked my then manager the difference between "Zis" and "Zat". (this and that) My manager told him that English has masculine and feminine words just like French and that "zis" was male and "zat" was female. After six months of my manager extracting the weewee out of him, I swear that he went back to France with worse English than when he arrived Edited January 9, 2013 by ME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ME Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) EDIT: I stand corrected, it is more that just singular or plural. I still like my norkage analogy below though! If you thought of the "is" and "are" in the context of a large pair of boobs you can't go wrong. "Do you know the girl with the massive rack on reception? Her norks ARE lovely". Edited January 9, 2013 by ME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Are and is in my opinion but need to see a broader sentence for the second line to see the full context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontbeck Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 Are and is in my opinion but need to see a broader sentence for the second line to see the full context. Agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kes Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 'Are' and 'is' for me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeredup Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 "Are" in both examples Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) Are and is in my opinion but need to see a broader sentence for the second line to see the full context. Edit (see below) Edited January 9, 2013 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I may have to retract that... (A sum of) five pounds is expensive for that.(A reply of) "many people" is no answer. (An amount of) three pinches of salt is too much. (A punishment of) thirty lashes is too harsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ME Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 1. The majority of Directors is/are available... 2. ...that a solid couple of hours is/are required. According to this it should both be IS!! How strange! http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectverbagree.asp Rule 13 Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time. Examples: Ten dollars is a high price to pay. Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense. Rule 15 Collective nouns such as team and staff may be either singular or plural depending on their use in the sentence. Examples: The staff is in a meeting. Staff is acting as a unit here. The staff are in disagreement about the findings. The staff are acting as separate individuals in this example. The sentence would read even better as: The staff members are in disagreement about the findings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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