Subject and Verb

[jack]

What is the subject and what's the verb for this sentence:

http://www.mytelus.com/community/art...icleID=1823930
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. (How come 'advocates' is plural? )

Thanks.

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by jack

What is the subject and what's the verb for this sentence:

http://www.mytelus.com/community/art...icleID=1823930
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. (How come 'advocates' is plural? )

Thanks.

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

[Abdo]

1. "Federal child pornography laws" is the subject of "have been"
2. the gerund form phrase "pitting police and victims' rights" is the subject of "advocates" and the "s" in advocates is the third person singular "S" not the plural one.

[jack]

tdol:Advocate= a person who supports something, and there are many of them, hence the plural.

I thought about that too. It seems odd. Like the flow of the sentence doesn't seem right.

Abdo:
2. the gerund form phrase "pitting police and victims' rights" is the subject of "advocates" and the "s" in advocates is the third person singular "S" not the plural one.

"pitting police and victims' rights" Why is it third person singular?
For eg.
A cat and a dog don't get along. ('Don't' is not 'doesn't' so why is 'advocates' not 'advocate'?)

I understand that this is the subject:

"pitting police and victims' rights" is the subject of "advocates"

But how come not like this:
Bold=subject
pitting police and victims' rights are the subject of advocate

Thanks.

[Abdo]

Consider this sentence:
"Meeting Jack and David was not easy"
So "meeting" is the gerund and takes a singular verb. while "Jack and David" is the object of "meeting"
In the same way: Pitting takes a singular verb which is "advocates" while "police and victims' rights" is the object of "Pitting"

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Abdo

1. "Federal child pornography laws" is the subject of "have been"
2. the gerund form phrase "pitting police and victims' rights" is the subject of "advocates" and the "s" in advocates is the third person singular "S" not the plural one.

This analysis is incorrect. 'Advocates' is a plural noun, not a third person singular verb. If it were a third person singular verb, the sentence would be a comma splice and incorrect. Advocates (of victims' rights) and the police have been placed in conflict with the other parties.

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Abdo

Consider this sentence:
"Meeting Jack and David was not easy"
So "meeting" is the gerund and takes a singular verb. while "Jack and David" is the object of "meeting"
In the same way: Pitting takes a singular verb which is "advocates" while "police and victims' rights" is the object of "Pitting"

The two sentence cannot be compared in this way- they are not the same.

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by jack

I thought about that too. It seems odd. Like the flow of the sentence doesn't seem right.


"pitting police and victims' rights" Why is it third person singular?
For eg.
A cat and a dog don't get along. ('Don't' is not 'doesn't' so why is 'advocates' not 'advocate'?)

I understand that this is the subject:


But how come not like this:
Bold=subject
pitting police and victims' rights are the subject of advocate

Thanks.

It isn't the subject because 'advocates' is not a verb here. However, look at this:
Smoking cigarettes is bad for you.
Here, we subject is 'smoking cigarettes', not cigarettes, so it is singular.

[Abdo]

I read the sentence again.
I think you're right tdol
advocates here is a noun not verb.
so the sentence can be analysed like this:
"police and victims' rights advocates" = object of "pitting"

"police and victims' rights advocates" means "those who advocate police and victims rights"
"police and victim rights" = adjective for the noun "advocates"

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

[Casiopea]

I agree with tdol's analysis.

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

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