when to use is and/or are
Ian
reconciliation movement where property, such as works of art, that was
stolen or confiscated by the Nazis **is** returned to the families of
the original owners.
Should it be "is" or "are" ? I though it would be "are" because the
property here is plural. Is there an easy way of knowing when to use
"is" and "are"?
Troy Steadman
"Property" comes across as a singular (no logic in that BTW) so "is" is
correct.
Belongings are returned to the families of the original owners.
Robert Lieblich
I agree entirely. The author is to blame for using a plural phrase to
exemplify a singular subject. Substituting a plural like
"belongings" (or "items") for "property" is the obvious solution.
--
Bob Lieblich
Well done
Don Phillipson
news:42e0a25e$0$7010$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
> --> This rule is exemplified in circumstances such as the Holocaust
> reconciliation movement where property, such as works of art, that was
> stolen or confiscated by the Nazis **is** returned to the families of
> the original owners.
>
> Should it be "is" or "are" ? I though it would be "are" because the
> property here is plural.
NB the word property is singular, not plural, even though
the word can be used as a collective noun: (but that is
a different, independent, rule of usage.) We have
legitimate words property and properties, but paradoxically
the everyday meaning of the plural form is not 2+ units of the
singular.
There are several words like this e.g. food.
As the subject of a verb, (singular) food requires the
singular form of the verb. But there is a plural form
foods, which requires the plural form of any verb.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Bob Cunningham
<Ia...@hotmail.com.fr> said:
> --> This rule is exemplified in circumstances such as the Holocaust
> reconciliation movement where property, such as works of art, that was
> stolen or confiscated by the Nazis **is** returned to the families of
> the original owners.
> Should it be "is" or "are" ?
It should be "is".
I find it curious that you've questioned the number of "is",
but not of "was". They both have as their antecedent the
singular noun "property", and the point you're wondering
about applies equally well to each of them.
The phrase "such as works of art" is parenthetical and
"works of art" is not antecedent to "was" or "is".
The relationships may be clearer and the grammar is
unchanged if you use parentheses instead of commas to
bracket the parenthetical comment:
property (such as works of art) that was stolen
or confiscated by the Nazis is returned
The test of a parenthetical remark is that it can be omitted
without changing the basic meaning of the overall statement.
> I though it would be "are" because the property here
> is plural.
But "property" isn't; it's singular, just as "software" and
"grain" are singular in the following:
Software (both machine-language and Fortran programs)
is our principal product.
Grain (wheat, oats, corn, and barley) is sometimes
transported in burlap bags.
> Is there an easy way of knowing when to use
> "is" and "are"?
Yes. Find the antecedent and beware of being misled by
parenthetical remarks.
Bob Cunningham
A relative, but not identical, issue is the number of a verb
used with a collective noun. In
The family is/are at church every Sunday
either verb may be correct depending upon whether the
practice of going to church represents a unanimous
understanding by the family members or reflects a separate
decision reached by each member, possibly for different
reasons from one member to another.
British usage tends to have a plural verb in some cases
where a singular verb would be used in America. In reading
English football news, I find that club names are invariably
assumed to be plural. For example, a news item might say
Arsenal regret the loss of Vieira, and Juventus are
delighted to acquire him.
Come to think of it, team names in America often get plural
verbs, but when that happens, the names are clearly plural,
like "Dodgers" and "Giants". But where we would say "The
Dodgers are in first place", we would say alternatively "Los
Angeles is in first place".
Several years ago I saw somewhere the following example of
English English usage:
Germany have made an offer and France are
considering it.
But when I've mentioned that in alt.usage.english, at least
one English English poster has disagreed that that's typical
usage there.
Anyway, getting back to the original example, I don't think
"property" should ever be thought of as a plural collective
noun. "Properties" would be used if a plural sense is
needed. For example, we could say
properties, such as works of art, that were stolen
or confiscated by the Nazis are returned to the
Charles Riggs
It would be if "belongings" were a synonym for "property", not a word
for underwear and the like that a person carries in a suitcase or on
their person. So "belongings" won't do at all in the example given.
What's wrong with "possessions"?
--
Charles Riggs
Robert Lieblich
[ ... ]
> What's wrong with "possessions"?
I didn't think of it first.
--
Bob Lieblich
Confessing a bit of error
Charles Riggs
<robert....@verizon.net> wrote:
>Charles Riggs wrote:
>
>[ ... ]
>
>> What's wrong with "possessions"?
>
>I didn't think of it first.
>Bob Lieblich
>Confessing a bit of error
The Lord be praised for that much, but did you have to snip so
vigorously that the error was hidden from view?
There's no shame in committing errors, as I've repeatedly told Coop.
And told him and told him.
--
Charles Riggs
Robert Lieblich
>
> On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 05:41:55 -0400, Robert Lieblich
> <robert....@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> >Charles Riggs wrote:
> >
> >[ ... ]
> >
> >> What's wrong with "possessions"?
> >
> >I didn't think of it first.
>
> >Bob Lieblich
> >Confessing a bit of error
>
> The Lord be praised for that much, but did you have to snip so
> vigorously that the error was hidden from view?
Hey, I owned up. Do I have to repeat it, too?
> There's no shame in committing errors, as I've repeatedly told Coop.
> And told him and told him.
I'm sure he's heard it and heard it and heard it.
--
Bob Lieblich
Snippers for sale