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tauruswarrior
Joined: 03 Jul 2006
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:48 am Post subject: subject verb agreement |
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Why is it that I always hear English speakers in north America say:
"And there, to meet me in the airport, IS my mama and papa."
Shouldn't it be:
"And there, to meet me in the airport, ARE my mama and papa."
Please help. Thanks. |
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flying_pig319
Joined: 01 Jul 2006
Posts: 369
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| Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:35 pm Post subject: Re: subject verb agreement |
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| tauruswarrior wrote: |
Why is it that I always hear English speakers in north America say:
"And there, to meet me in the airport, IS my mama and papa."
Shouldn't it be:
"And there, to meet me in the airport, ARE my mama and papa."
Please help. Thanks. |
Yes- you're right. Technically, it should be ARE, since mama and papa is plural.
Sometimes the two parents are treated like a group. "And there, to meet me in the airport, is [my parental unit]".
It's just stupid...
But yeah- you're right  |
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Mary W. Ng
Joined: 26 Jun 2006
Posts: 261
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| Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: Subject-verb agreement |
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Please note that the normal rules of subject-verb agreement do not always apply to sentences containing there as dummy subject.
"And there, to meet me in the airport, IS my mama and papa."
When the real subject is a compound subject consisting of two singular nouns (my mama and papa), the singular form of the verb be is used after there.
Best wishes,
_________________
Mary W. Ng
Helping students learn grammar
http:www.aimpublishing.com |
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