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Discussion Groups / British English / December 2003Is/are
If I write Peter is coming tomorrow or Peter and his parents are comming tomorrow, there is no doubt about the proper use of is/are. But what if I write Peter (and his parents) XXX coming tomorrow. Would you see the parenthesis as something that should not interfere with the grammar of the rest of the sentence? This would lead you to replace XXX with "is". Or would you be more concerned with the way the sentence is read? This would lead you to replace XXX with "are". My personal choice is "are". -- Claus Tondering >But what if I write > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >My personal choice is "are". I agree with all that you've said. But the best solution would probably be to omit the brackets.  SignatureJohn Hall "I am not young enough to know everything." Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) > If I write > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > My personal choice is "are". I'd re-write the sentence "Peter is coming tomorrow (along with his parents)". But generally the parentheses exclude the idea within them from the main sentence, so strictly speaking your chice is wrong. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan I agree with Enide's opnion. > > If I write > > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Regards, Einde O'Callaghan > I agree with Enide's opnion. And I with Tyon Ole's nipnop. But you will have to scroll down to the bottom of this post in order to read why this is so. Isn't life a pain? > > > If I write > > > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > parents)". But generally the parentheses exclude the idea within them > > from the main sentence, so strictly speaking your chice is wrong. I'd leave out the parentheses. Is there anything wrong with 'Peter and his parents are coming tomorrow', apart from the obvious schoolboy ambiguity? Why are the parentheses necessary? Giles. > I'd leave out the parentheses. Is there anything wrong with 'Peter > and his parents are coming tomorrow', apart from the obvious schoolboy > ambiguity? > > Why are the parentheses necessary? I'm surprised that you can advocate leaving out the parentheses when all you have is a single sentence taken out of context. Surely the parentheses may make perfect sense in a certain context. Imagine an email exchange that goes along these lines: A: I want to know which of the children are coming today. B: John and Anne are coming today. A: Did you remember to ask their parents to come as well? B: Yes, of course. A: What about Peter? B: Peter (and his parents) are coming tomorrow. Of course the last sentence also makes sense without the parentheses, but I still believe that they can be justified. Anyway, the responses to my original question (should one use "is" or "are" int the last sentence in the above dialogue) have been ambiguous. One person has answered "are", and a couple of others have answered "is". My personal preference is still "are" because the text in the parentheses is always included when you read the sentence. Yes, the parentheses signal that "and his parents" may be omitted, but in reality the words are hardly ever skipped when we read the sentence. A similar question: Is "is" or "are" correct in the following sentence? The doctor or the nurses is/are coming tomorrow. Here, my personal preference is: The doctor or the nurses are coming tomorrow. The nurses or the doctor is coming tomorrow. -- Claus Tondering >A similar question: Is "is" or "are" correct in the following >sentence? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > The doctor or the nurses are coming tomorrow. > The nurses or the doctor is coming tomorrow. Neither option feels altogether satisfactory. I would avoid the problem by writing: "Either the doctor or the nurses will be coming tomorrow." SignatureJohn Hall "Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger." Franklin P Jones >>A similar question: Is "is" or "are" correct in the following >>sentence? [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Neither option feels altogether satisfactory. I would avoid the problem > by writing: "Either the doctor or the nurses will be coming tomorrow." I agree wholeheartedly. In such cases most people will come up with a construction that eliminates the need for deciding whether to use the singular or plural forms or they will reformulate the sentence to eliminate any ambiguity (e.g. "You will be seen by either the doctor or the nurses tomorrow") - and that includes not only speech, but perhaps even more so a written exchange, such as an email. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan >> I'd leave out the parentheses. Is there anything wrong with 'Peter >> and his parents are coming tomorrow', apart from the obvious schoolboy [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >Of course the last sentence also makes sense without the parentheses, >but I still believe that they can be justified. As the above is clearly a conversation, how do you represent parentheses in speech? It's because language is at heart a spoken medium that the form of the verb follows what we hear rather than what we read. I don't think anybody would ever use a singular noun in this context whatever the punctuation. If we want to accentuate a singular part of the subject in speech we rephrase the sentence. It's possible to think of ways in which we might use a singular - Peter, along with his parents, is coming tomorrow. - but the use of a more dissociative "along with" signals that Peter is the true subject. The use of "and" signals a normal plural subject taking a plural verb. I think that's why people have suggested simply removing the brackets. SignaturePhil C. > > Imagine an > >email exchange that goes along these lines: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > As the above is clearly a conversation, how do you represent > parentheses in speech? Please read what I wrote. I explicitly wrote "Imagine an email exchange..." because I wanted avoid the remark that you can't hear parentheses in speech. > I don't think anybody would ever use a singular noun in this > context whatever the punctuation. Do you mean a singular *verb*? -- Claus Tondering >> > Imagine an >> >email exchange that goes along these lines: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >exchange..." because I wanted avoid the remark that you can't hear >parentheses in speech. Fair enough but it doesn't make any difference. We speak long before we write and what sounds right is crucial to choosing whether a verb is singular or plural, even in writing. Reading is, after all, speech in our heads. If we're unsure about written grammar, we rehearse it in our heads to see whether it sounds right. If it doesn't, we recast the sentence. Insisting on a usage even though it sounds wrong would be seen as eccentric. Is any if this different in other languages? >> I don't think anybody would ever use a singular noun in this >> context whatever the punctuation. > >Do you mean a singular *verb*? Yes. Typing error. SignaturePhil C. >> A: I want to know which of the children are coming today. >> B: John and Anne are coming today. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >>Of course the last sentence also makes sense without the parentheses, >>but I still believe that they can be justified. > As the above is clearly a conversation, how do you represent > parentheses in speech? It's because language is at heart a spoken > medium that the form of the verb follows what we hear rather than what > we read. I don't think anybody would ever use a singular noun in this > context whatever the punctuation. I think in the conversation above, you can just about make "is" sound grammatical by long pauses: "Peter <long pause> and his parents <long pause> is coming tomorrow". Matthew Huntbach >>> A: I want to know which of the children are coming today. >>> B: John and Anne are coming today. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > "Peter <long pause> and his parents <long pause> is coming tomorrow". It doesn't work for me. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan >>>> A: I want to know which of the children are coming today. >>>> B: John and Anne are coming today. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >> > It doesn't work for me. Maybe, if they were for a week? m. [Snip] > B: Peter (and his parents) are coming tomorrow. > Of course the last sentence also makes sense without the parentheses, > but I still believe that they can be justified. It is simply a wrong use of parentheses. As others have said, the sentence can easily be rewritten so as not to use them (and sound better for it). Signaturehttp://www.dacha.freeuk.com/zodiac/cpis-0.htm Pisces (February 20th - March 20th) Mina - the Fishes Anpu (Anubis) |
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