"Her hard-working and honest nature will not save her ..."

Status
Not open for further replies.

Odessa Dawn

Key Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Saudi Arabia
Current Location
Saudi Arabia
(c) When two or more subjects are joined by “and” and refer to the same person or thing, the verb is in the singular. However, compound subjects referring to two different people or things take plural verbs.
Examples:
(i) His brother and sponsor was there to help him.
(ii) The President and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces has arrived.
(iii) A dog and a cat are seldom friends.
(iv) The man and his wife have arrived.

More: GRAMMAR Part 2: Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord) | Faith Brown

"Her hard-working and honest nature will not save her from bearing the brunt of drastic cuts targeted at the benefits system."

Can I construct the underlined part in the present simple tense using the verb in singular?
Example:
Her hard-working and honest nature doesn't save her ....
Question: Does this sentence
satisfy what has been mentioned in the blue-colored statement?
 

JMurray

Key Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
New Zealand
Current Location
Australia
There is only one subject, her "nature", so "doesn't" is correct.
It is the adjectives "hard-working" and "honest" that are joined by "and".

not a teacher
 

Odessa Dawn

Key Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Saudi Arabia
Current Location
Saudi Arabia


There is only one subject, her "nature", so "doesn't" is correct.
It is the adjectives "hard-working" and "honest" that are joined by "and".
not a teacher

Grateful to you, JMurray. To be honest, I always thought that hard-working was a noun, how wrong I was? Anyhow, does the following sentence make sense?

Her
hard work and honest nature doesn't save her ....

 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK




Grateful to you, JMurray. To be honest, I always thought that hard-working was a noun, how wrong I was? Anyhow, does the following sentence make sense?

Her
hard work and honest nature doesn't save her ....


No. There are two nouns joined by "and" ("hard work" and "honest nature") so the plural is appropriate. You would replace "hard work and honest nature" with "they" so you must then use "don't".
 

JMurray

Key Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
New Zealand
Current Location
Australia
Here are two subjects joined by "and" and referring to the same person, taking a singular verb.
"This hard worker and honest employee is not saved by her good character."

not a teacher
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top