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Discussion Groups / English Usage / April 2010The Guaraní missions are all that remain of
Hello: ---- The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century utopian social experiment — call it theocratic communism for lack of a better term — that has fascinated thinkers for hundreds of years. http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/travel/03missions.html?fta=y ---- I much prefer the singular "The Guaraní missions is all that remains of" with "all," seeing "all" as a group, ensemble, but I think I'm in a minority. ---- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu I'd use the plural. There were a number of different missions, even if they were all organized on the same principles.  SignatureCheryl > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > with "all," seeing "all" as a group, ensemble, but I think I'm in a > minority. I'd go with either: The Guaraní missions are all that remain... or All that remains is the Guaraní missions... SignatureRegards John for mail: my initials plus a u e at tpg dot com dot au John Holmes: > The Guaraní missions are all that remain... > or > All that remains is the Guaraní missions... Yes, exactly. The verb agrees with the subject. A subject that's plural in form can be construed as singular if it refers to a single thing -- "Franks and beans is the only meal available" -- but there's no way for that to make sense here. SignatureMark Brader | "Must undefined behavior obey *all* the laws of physics, msb@vex.net | or is the restriction limited to time travel?" Toronto | --Heather Downs My text in this article is in the public domain. In article <e4a49ec1-9ecc-4754-bffe-38445e1cfc2a@d39g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>, > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > with "all," seeing "all" as a group, ensemble, but I think I'm in a > minority. The all has nothing to do with it, the plural is 'missions' as there were, evidently, more than one of those. The boys are all older than I. The books are all blue. The cats are all male. &c &c > ---- > The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > minority. > ---- You wanna see a minority? I would write "The Guaraní missions are all that remains ...". "The missions" is a plural subject, and I don't see how you can avoid using the plural "are" after it, but "all" is a pronoun there (roughly equivalent to "everything"), not an adjective modifying "missions", and I think it should have the singular "is". There is no difficulty with the change of number: "The Guaraní missions are my obsession." > > The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century > > utopian social experiment — call it theocratic communism for lack [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > see how you can avoid using the plural "are" after it, but "all" is a > pronoun there (roughly equivalent to "everything"), That's exactly what I think I'm thinking: "everything":-) > not an adjective > modifying "missions", and I think it should have the singular "is". > There is no difficulty with the change of number: "The Guaraní > missions are my obsession." Thanks. Marius Hancu > > > The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century > > > utopian social experiment — call it theocratic communism for lack [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Looks good to me too. > > ---- > > The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > There is no difficulty with the change of number: "The Guaraní > missions are my obsession." Hmm... I'm not sure if I would write remain or remains, but I would not argue that either is wrong. Right now they both sound right. >>> ---- >>> The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Hmm... I'm not sure if I would write remain or remains, but I would > not argue that either is wrong. Right now they both sound right. It would vary with context, for me. Maybe. I might use the plural verb if there were some indication in the sentence that "all" functioned as a plural: "The Guaraní missions are all [the missions] that remain of the dozens of Jesuit outposts in South America," for instance. But "remains" looks all right to me too. Depends what you take "all" to stand for, I suppose. >> ---- >> The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >There is no difficulty with the change of number: "The Guaraní >missions are my obsession." I would also say "The Guarani missions are all that remains", for the same reason. The subject of "remain(s)" is undoubtedly "all" not the missions; the only question is whether "all" whould be treated as singular or plural. Katy >>> ---- >>> The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > reason. The subject of "remain(s)" is undoubtedly "all" not the missions; the > only question is whether "all" whould be treated as singular or plural. Isn't it "that" that is the subject of "remains"? I see "that" as a relative pronoun. All that glisters is not gold, he that does not make new acquaintances through life will soon find himself left alone, for further examples. Signaturefranzi > The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century > utopian social experiment — call it theocratic communism for lack of a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > with "all," seeing "all" as a group, ensemble, but I think I'm in a > minority. The original sentence can be simplified for analysis purposes to just: The missions are all that remain. In that simple form, it becomes clear that "are" and "remains" are the wanted forms. A recasting may also help: All that remains is the missions. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >with "all," seeing "all" as a group, ensemble, but I think I'm in a >minority. Perhaps the plural is going the way of the subjunctive. Missions is... Media is... Criteria is... SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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