Subject and Verb

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Abdo

We pit (sb/sth) against (sb/sth)

Agreed.

[jack]

tdol:
Subject- Federal child pornography laws
Verb- have been
Advocate= a person who supports something, and there are many of them, hence the plural.

Casiopea:
Simple Subject: laws
Verb: have been
Object: a bone of contention

Simple Subject: pitting (gerund, singular noun)
Verb: advocates(singular verb)

How come tdol said 'advocate' was a noun and Casiopea said it was a verb? Which one is it?

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jack

How come tdol said 'advocate' was a noun and Casiopea said it was a verb? Which one is it?

It's a difficult sentence to parse, jack, even for native speakers.

The subjects are underlined and the main verbs are in green:

1. Federal child pornography laws have been a bone of contention for nearly a decade, pitting police and victims' rights advocates against civil libertarians and creative artists.

1. Federal child pornography laws have been a bone of contention for nearly a decade [because] pitting police and victims' rights advocates against civil libertarians and creative artists.

[jack]

..... pitting police and victims' rights advocates .....

For sentences like that one, how do I figure out if it has two subjects or one? How can you tell if it is a mistake or not? Like if it is one whole subject like this: 'pitting police and victims'. Or it is two subjects like this 'pitting police' and 'victims' rights' Also, do you have a website where can I read about that.

Thanks.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jack

For sentences like that one, how do I figure out if it has two subjects or one?

Easy, jack. If there are two verbs, then there are two subjects.

Originally Posted by jack

How can you tell if . . . it is one whole subject like this: 'pitting police and victims'. Or it is two subjects like this 'pitting police' and 'victims' rights'.

"pitting (against)" is a gerund made by adding -ing to the verb "to pit". Gerunds function as subject and as objects. As subjects they occur before a verb, and "advocates", note the -s, is a verb.

Originally Posted by jack

Also, do you have a website where can I read about that.

Sorry. Your guess is as good as mine. Try an online search. Use some of the key words in the sentence.

[jack]

I find it hard to distinguish between gerunds and objects. What is the subject and what is the verb for these? How do you distinguish them? And what do these mean?
1. Chasing him and following him is not good ideas.
1. Chasing him and following him are not good ideas.
2. Chasing him and chasing with him is not a good idea.
2. Chasing him and chasing with him are not a good idea.

Thanks.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jack

I find it hard to distinguish between gerunds and objects. What is the subject and what is the verb for these? How do you distinguish them? And what do these mean?
1. Chasing him and following him is not good ideas.
1. Chasing him and following him are not good ideas.
2. Chasing him and chasing with him is not a good idea.
2. Chasing him and chasing with him are not a good idea.

Thanks.

Only nouns can act as subjects, jack, so if they -ing word comes before the verb, it's a noun.

The subject comes before the verb, the object comes after the verb.

If the verb is singular (is) then the subject is treated as singular. If "and" joins the subject, then both nouns are treated together, as a single event, as in 1. and 2. (Sorry, but you failed to mark your examples, so you'll have to figure out which ones I mean by '1. and 2.')

If the verb is plural (are) then the subject is treated as a plural event, as in 1. and 2. (Again, you'll have to figure out which '1. and 2.'--the examples are not labelled correctly.)

[Reemy]

Dear Jack,
I think that "pitting…against" is a verbal phrase, and " advocates" here its object. Let's put it in this way .
"1. Federal child pornography laws have been a bone of contention for nearly a decade; a matter which pits police and the advocates of victims' rights against civil libertarians and creative artists. This is the only way I can see it a correct analysis for the sentence.

[jack]

1. Chasing him and following him are not good ideas.
2. Chasing him and chasing with him is not a good idea.

If these are not correct, why? What do they mean?
1. Shifting from R to D and redlining your tranny are not good. (Do I have two subjects right here? If this is wrong, why is #1 in the quote correct?)
2. Shifting from R to D and redlining your tranny is not good. (One subject?)

Thanks.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jack

If these are not correct, why? What do they mean?
1. Shifting from R to D and redlining your tranny are not good. (Do I have two subjects right here? If this is wrong, why is #1 in the quote correct?)
2. Shifting from R to D and redlining your tranny is not good. (One subject?)

Thanks.

Example 1. has two gerund phrases (underlined) acting as two separate subjects. Example 2. has two gerund phrases (underlined) acting as one subject. For both examples, either "is" or "are" is fine. Choosing "is" or "are" depends on whether you want the subject to be one single event (as in 2.) or two separate events (as in 1.):

1. Doing these two things: shifting and red-lining are not good. (plural)
2. Doing this one thing: shifting and red-lining is not good. (singular)