Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

sejpdw · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 217 Location: Korea

"A cowboy had twelve cows. All but nine died. How many cows did he have? The answer is nine. The phrase 'all but' will always tell you how many of something ________ ."

#1. is left
#2. are left
#3. left

Which is right?
Especially, #3 is possible?

Poisontipped · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 28

Number 2 is definately out as it's gramatically wrong. Not sure about 2 and 3 though.

ESL-ish · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Arizona

No, I think you jumped too fast here. The subject (how many) is seperated by a prepositional phrase that ends with a singular noun (something) so you want to put a singular verb there (is).

BUT

Check it by removing the prepositional phrase. Even better, substitute "cows" for "of something" You get, "How many cows is left?"
This doesn't work for me.

IMHO, #2. are left, is correct.

And, no, #3 is not possible because the verb, "to leave", is being used in the passive voice so the helping verb, "be", must be included.
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