None-verb agreement

[Fatima0401]

Hi, Dear Teacher, I have drafted sentence 1) but my boss later corrected it to sentence 2), saying that the verbs "factilitate" and "are" should be in plural form to agree with the noun "programmes". But I'd rather prefer using the singular form to correspond with the noun phrase "rehabiitation programmes are provided". Is my boss correct?

1) In addition to safe custody, appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners which not only facilitates positive life changes and reduce the recidivism rate, but is also conducive to social harmony and stability in the long run.

vs

2) 1) In addition to safe custody, appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners which not only facilitate positive life changes and reduce the recidivism rate, but are also conducive to social harmony and stability in the long run.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi. [STRIKE]dear teacher[/STRIKE]

I [STRIKE]have drafted[/STRIKE] wrote sentence 1) but my boss later corrected it to sentence 2), saying that the verbs "factilitate" and "are" should be in the plural form to agree with the noun "programmes". [STRIKE]But[/STRIKE] However, I'd [STRIKE]rather[/STRIKE] prefer [STRIKE]using[/STRIKE] to use the singular form to correspond with the noun phrase "rehabiitation programmes are provided". Is my boss correct?

1) In addition to safe custody, appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners, which not only facilitates positive life changes and reduce the recidivism rate, but is also conducive to social harmony and stability in the long run.

[STRIKE]vs[/STRIKE]

2) 1) In addition to safe custody, appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners, which not only facilitate positive life changes and reduce the recidivism rate, but are also conducive to social harmony and stability in the long run.

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Your boss is right. The verbs need to agree with "programmes". Note my corrections above, particularly the addition of a comma before "which".

 

[GoesStation]

If you want to use singular verbs, you can split this into two sentences:

In addition to safe custody, appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners. This not only facilitates positive life changes and reduces the recidivism rate, but it is also conducive to social harmony and stability in the long run.

"This" refers to the overall idea of providing the programs (American spelling).

 

[5jj]

In addition to safe custody, appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners which not only facilitates positive life changes and reduces the recidivism rate, but is also conducive to social harmony and stability in the long run.

I'd accept that, seeing the antecedent of which as appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners.

 

[jutfrank]

The disagreement you have with your boss is about what the pronoun which refers to. Your boss thinks it refers to appropriate rehabilitation programmes (hence a plural agreement) whereas your intention is that it refers to the whole clause appropriate rehabilitation programmes are provided to prisoners (hence a singular agreement). In other words, you're disagreeing over what the sentence means.

I suggest you include a comma before which and stick with the singular agreement, since that's what you mean. Otherwise, use GoesStation's suggestion from post #3.

[cross-posted]

 

[Tdol]

I agree with Jutfrank- put the comma in.

 

[5jj]

I agree. I should have mentioned that in my earlier post.