LANGUAGE CORNER
One Was, Two Were
"The field was set and post positions drawn," the article about horse racing said, and that was a numbers slip, so to speak. The error is easy to spot in a series consisting of just "field" and "post positions"; not so easy to spot, and easier to commit, as series grow longer.
The noun "field" in the first part of the sentence is singular, and of course works fine with the singular "was set." But "positions" in the next part of the sentence is plural, the singular "was" from the beginning of the sentence no longer fits, and "drawn" is only half a verb.
The sentence has to read, "The field was set and post positions were drawn."
What if the number - singular or plural - in such a series stays the same from beginning to end? Then the auxiliary verb can be omitted (though that's not mandatory) with the second and subsequent elements: "Post positions were drawn, weights assigned and jockeys named."
And we're off!
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Various rules of the language, including rules of thumb, are discussed here (with as little jargon as possible) because we need to know the rules to know when to follow them, when to bend them, even when to break them. To borrow a fundamental thought from The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, the first and overriding rule will be common sense. Evan Jenkins can be reached at ejenk35@aol.com.
Adverb Placement
Affect/Effect
Along With
Alternate/Alternative
Antecedents
As Such (Transition)
AttorneyS general
The Authorities
Averse/Adverse
[Feel] Bad/badly
"Because" and "Since"
Between/Among
"Between...and" not
"Between...to"
Between/In Between; Call/Call Up;
In Line/On Line
"Between the Cracks"
Bid, Bid, Bade
"Big of a"
Borne Out, with an "E"
Both
"Brackets"
Cardinal/Ordinal Numbers
"Collective"
Collective Nouns
Comprise
Could/Couldn't Care Less
Criterion/Criteria
Danglers
"Decimate"
Declined to comment
Democratic, adj.
Difference/Differential
Double Possessive
Due To
Each other/one another
Elegant Variation
Enormity
Evoke/Invoke
Facilitate
False titles, etc.
Farther/Further
"Feud"
Five times below, 150% less, etc.
Flaunt/Flout
"Former Native"
Fortuitous
Fused Participle; "off of"
Gantlet/Gauntlet; Stanch/Staunch
Gild/Paint the Lily
"Graduated College"
Graffito/Graffiti
He or She, etc.
Hitting Milestones
Hone/Home
Honored in the Breach
Hung/Hanged
Hyphens
If Not
Implement
Imply/Infer
Important/Importantly
In Line/On Line
Individuals/People/Persons
Interface (rather
than "Talk")
Invoke/Evoke
Irrelevant (not irrevelant)
Lend/Loan
Lie, Lay and All That
"Lightening"; "Forecasted"
Like, With an Object
Loath/Loathe
May/Might
"Media," plural
Monies? Balonies!
More Than/Over
Myself
"Near Miss"
"None" as Plural, Hung/Hanged
Normalcy
Notoriety
"Off of"
Of Which/Whose
"Older Than Him"
Only, placement of
People/Persons
Per
Phenomenon/Phenomena
Placement of "only"
Pleaded Guilty
Plural, but Tricky
Police (The)
Possessive Nouns with Pronouns
Precipitate/Precipitous
Preposition Ending Sentence
Prior To/Before
Raveled Sleave, With an "A"
The Reason is That
A Readers' Potpourri:
Refute/Rebut
ReMUNerate
Replete
"Reverend"
Run-On Series
Sequence of Tenses
Brush up your Shakespeare:
- Act I: Honored in the Breach
- Act II: Gild/Paint the Lily
- Act III: Raveled Sleave, With an "A"
- Act IV: Wherefore
Share (warm and fuzzy
version)
Singular Noun, Plural Pronoun
Split Infinitive
Stanch/Staunch; Gantlet/Gauntlet
Straighten/Straiten
Suspect/Suspected
Swatch/Swath
Tautology
Terminate (rather than "fire")
That, Omission of;
The
Police
"They Each"; $57 million
was
Timely Manner
To...To
Tons was
Toward(s)
Transition; 'As Such'
Wangle/Wrangle
Well, as an adjective
Whence
Where...at
Wherefore art thou?
Whether (or not)
Who/Whom
Whose/of which
"Woof Down"
N.B.: Unless otherwise specified, references in this material to H.W. Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage are to the second edition (1965) and not to the 1990's version, which retained the Fowler name, but little of Fowler.
