[Tlhingan-hol] Pronoun agreement in to-be sentences

[David Trimboli]

On 6/26/2012 3:59 PM, Robyn Stewart wrote:
>
> On 2012-06-26, at 13:01, David Trimboli <david at trimboli.name> wrote:
>
>>> Why doesn't the disagreement "plural are singular" bother me in
>>> English?
>>
>> Because you're silently adding a plural noun after the adjective
>> "plural"? "Plural nouns"?
>
> I actually meant it as a template, but didn't stop to realize that it
> was a valid sentwnce of its own. I meant:
>
> [plural concept] are [singular thing]
>
> Skittles are my favourite thing ever.
> Stories are a good way to shut kids up.
> Cellphones are an awesome invention.
>
> Maybe there are people who would reject all those sentences and
> demand "The cellphone is an awesome invention."

Well, Skittles aren't a thing (they are things); stories aren't a way 
(telling stories is a way); cell phones aren't an invention (the cell 
phone is an invention). I can certainly see the point of such people in 
formal writing and would take their advice.

However, no one hearing these sentences in ordinary conversation would 
think twice about them, or even notice them. Perhaps this is because of 
the proximity of a plural noun phrase and the verb.

Here's a classic example:

	Which is correct?
	-"The yolk of eggs is white"
	-"The yolk of eggs are white"

	Answer:
	-Neither. The yolk of eggs is yellow.

Grammatically, the verb must agree in number with the subject "yolk," 
not the object of the preposition "eggs," so "is" is the correct verb, 
but it sounds very much like "are" should be used because of its 
proximity to a plural noun that is not the subject.

-- 
David Trimboli
http://www.trimboli.name/