singular or plural?

[blouen]

Originally Posted by RonBee

Mykwyner is right. The subjects are former and latter and the verbs should be carries and presents.

Hi, teachers!

Now I'm confused. Ron said in his previous posts that it should be carry/present and now he's taking it back and changing it to carries/presents.

[ian2]

Originally Posted by ian2

Editorials are different from fact-based texts in that the former carries (or carry ) attitude and opinions of the writer whereas the latter only presents (or present) facts.

Editorials are plural. But if we use "former" to stand for "editorials", should we use "carries" or "carry"? Thanks.

I am confused too. If you read my original sentence, you will see I used "carries" and "presents" first before considering "carry" and "present". I automatically typed "carries" and "presents" without thinking too much. Then my grammar crept in and I started having doubts about my own choice. My hunch is "carries" is right, but I am not sure now.

[blouen]

Hi Ron, Tdol....

Could you please clarify these thread? Were being confused of the answers here...

Which should be considered the noun here:

Editorials or former?
presents or latter?

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by ian2

Editorials are different from fact-based texts in that the former carries (or carry ) attitude and opinions of the writer whereas the latter only presents (or present) facts.

The sentence should be:

Editorials are different from fact-based texts in that the former carries attitudes and opinions of the writer, whereas the latter only presents facts.

Originally Posted by ian2

Editorials are plural. But if we use "former" to stand for "editorials", should we use "carries" or "carry"?

The word Editorials is indeed plural. The word former does indeed stand for Editorials. While the word Editorials is plural, the word former is singular. Furthermore, the word latter refers to fact-based texts. And latter (same as former) is singular.


You can eliminate a source of confusion by not using the words former and latter. Perhaps:

Editorials convey the opinions of the writer, whereas fact-based texts present only facts.

I hope that clears things up.


(I will change my opinion if I discover that I was wrong.)

~R

[albertino]

Why not check it up at Web Concordances for sure, guys?

[albertino]

Welcome back!!! Have you been on holiday these days?

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by ian2

Editorials are plural. But if we use "former" to stand for "editorials", should we use "carries" or "carry"? Thanks.

Since you're referring to one thing; i.e., types of writing, use singular verbs here:

Editorials are different from fact-based texts in that the former (type of writing) carries [the writer's] attitude and opinions whereas the latter (type of writing) only presents facts.

My vote: singular verbs carries and presents.

_______________
Note, I had originally voted for plural verbs. It wasn't until I had actually read the sentence--for meaning, not for grammar--that I caught on.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by albertino

Welcome back!!! Have you been on holiday these days?

Yes, and I am still on vacation.

Thanks for the welcome.

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by albertino

Why not check it up at Web Concordances for sure, guys?

I am sorry I made a mistake, but I never promised to be perfect. Why should I check with Web Concordances to be sure?

Re:

(I will change my opinion if I discover that I was wrong.)

That refers to me changing my mind about my previous statement. It does not mean I think I might be wrong now.