[Grammar] is my drive and total commitment to succeed

[uktous]

Hi,

Question:
Can I treat my drive and my total commitment to succeed as 1 thing in my sentence?

Sentence:
I believe one of my core strengths is my drive and total commitment to succeed.

Thanks

 

[bertietheblue]

Hi,

Question:
Can I treat my drive and my total commitment to succeed as 1 thing in my sentence?

Sentence:
I believe one of my core strengths is my drive and total commitment to succeed.

Thanks

Good question. The short answer is yes if you see them as a unit.

Try it the other way round:

"My drive and total commitment to succeed is one of my core strengths."

Is that OK?

Some would say yes, that the plural subject can be seen as a whole ('this is one of my core strengths') and that this is what we would say; others would take a more prescriptive approach and say that this is grammatically incorrect.

"My drive and total commitment to succeed are two of my core strengths."

Is that OK?

Clearly yes, grammatically, but it changes the meaning since the writer views them as a single strength.