[Grammar] eat or eats

Status
Not open for further replies.

yunie_

New member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
I am debating with a friend over the use of the word 'eat' in the following sentence, which is to be used in our marketing material.

Don't let stress from essay eats you up.

or

Don't let stress from essay eat you up.


One sounds wrong, the other looks wrong. Also, is the sentencing wrong as well? Perhaps there is a better way to phrase this.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
It should be "eat" because it's the base infinitive. Something seems to be missing before "essay".

Don't let the stress from writing an essay eat you up.
Don't allow the stress from writing an essay to eat you up.

(Note that with "let", we use the bare infinitive but with "allow", we use the "to-infinitive".
 

yunie_

New member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
Thanks for the clarification!

But this pique my curiosity.. so

'the stress from writing an essay is'
or
'the stress from writing an essay are'?

Also, is there a way to further shorten the sentence:
Don't let the stress from writing an essay eat you up.'

Limited space in the marketing material makes it difficult for long sentences


 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Are you marketing material which helps students to write essays?
 

yunie_

New member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
Only 'is' is possible. There is no plural word in that sentence that could lead anyone to think that 'are' might work.

Note: The stress from writing essays is ... . There you have a plural form, but it is not the subject of the verb.

Yes that is actually what I meant. Whether bare infinitive word like stress uses 'is' or 'are'.

Are you marketing material which helps students to write essays?

Haha, I can see where you are coming from but no, this is actually for a client that sells online courses.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
So your client is paying you to do what you want us to do free of charge?
 

yunie_

New member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Singapore
Current Location
Singapore
So your client is paying you to do what you want us to do free of charge?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: It is a short sentence which we can definitely have a proofreader to go through it. I personally am interested in this since I am debating about this with a friend of mine and in that instance, decided to search the web for the answer.

I appreciate help like this and make sure I thank everyone that I have ever asked a favour from on the net. I'm sorry if I am not the type of user that this forum is seeking for.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
You could say Don't let essay writing stress eat you up, which saves a a word or two, or Don't be consumed by by essay writing stress.
 

engee30

Key Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
England
Or this one:
Be essay-writing-stress free.
 

Matthew Wai

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Member Type
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
Don't stress about essay writing.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top