[Grammar] John is one of the students who is/are participating

[ssummer]

Hello and greetings

I hope you are able to help me with the following sentences :

1)John is one of the students who is/are participating in the art competition.

2)The number of boys who passed the tests last month is/was higher than that of the girls.

Thank you very much.

 

[tedmc]

1. are
2. was

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello. [STRIKE]and greetings[/STRIKE] That's tautologous. "Hello" is a greeting.

I hope you are able to help me with the following sentences:

1) John is one of the students who is/are participating in the art competition.

2) The number of boys who passed the tests last month is/was higher than that of the girls.

[STRIKE]Thank you very much.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Thank us after we help you, by clicking on the "Thank" button.

Note my corrections and comments above.

Don't put a space before a colon.
Put a space after a closing bracket.

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome back, ssummer, after your absence of three years and four months.:-D We've missed you.

To be fair, it wasn't that long a gap compared to the previous one. After you asked your first question in February 2006, you didn't post again for 11 years!

Don't be a stranger.;-)

 

[jutfrank]

1) Use are since there are many students participating in the competition.

2) As far as which verb to use (is/was) is concerned, you could use either, depending on what you mean. There are other problems with the sentence too, but since this sentence, and the question about it, are unrelated to the first, you really ought to post a separate thread if you want further details.

 

[ssummer]

Thank you very much for your replies and it’s funny I got corrected in my greetings line haha

This website is my go to when I am desperate and can’t find any other help online. God bless and keep safe!

 

[jutfrank]

This website is my go to when I am desperate and canÂ’t find any other help online.

Um, I assume we should take that as a compliment.

 

[emsr2d2]

This website is my go to when I am desperate and canÂ’t find any other help online. God bless and keep safe!

Um, I assume we should take that as a compliment.

Oh yes, nothing warms the cockles of the heart like being told you're someone's last resort!

 

[TheParser]

This website is my go to when I am desperate and canÂ’t find any other help online.

NOT A TEACHER


1. Your sentence means something like "I married Mona because I was desperate and couldn't find another woman who wanted me."

2. I assume that you actually wanted to say something like: "Whenever I am desperate for an answer, I know that I can always find it on usingenglish.com."

 

[GoesStation]

John is one of the students who is/are participating in the art competition.

You can solve this kind of problem by rearranging the sentence. Is the answer clear when you look at it this way?

Of the students participating in the art competition, John ____ one.

 

[jutfrank]

Did you mean this, GoesStation?:

Of the students who ___ participating in the art competition, John ___ one.

 

[GoesStation]

Did you mean this, GoesStation?:

Of the students who ___ participating in the art competition, John ___ one.

No, I thought it was better to focus on the verb that has "John" as its subject. But your version is instructive.

 

[ssummer]

You can solve this kind of problem by rearranging the sentence. Is the answer clear when you look at it this way?

Of the students participating in the art competition, John ____ one.

Yes this really helps as it was confusing me which should be the subject.

Wahaha!

Thanks for the many comments and I apologise with the last remark about being my go-to. U are all really ribbing me hard over it. ( ◠‿◠ )

It’s only because I didn’t want to ‘bother’ anyone to answer my question specifically if I can find answers already out there. I have been a lurker on usingenglish so I have always been here. But lately even more so coz I have a child tackling grammar exams.

Thanks again!

 

[ssummer]

Hi again!

Going through more of my child’s test papers, can someone please help me to explain the following?

1) None of the contestants is likely to withdraw from the competition.

2) None of the computers were delivered.

3) None of the equipment was delivered.

Why is it ‘is’ for the first and third statement but ‘were’ for the second statement?


Thanks! What rule is that?

 

[GoesStation]

1) None of the contestants is likely to withdraw from the competition.

2) None of the computers were delivered.

3) None of the equipment was delivered.

Why is it ‘is’ for the first and third statement but ‘were’ for the second statement?

Some people like to think of none as deriving from no one and therefore requiring a singular verb. This is a faulty analysis but it was supported by many grammarians for a long time and has a certain amount of support. It's more natural for most speakers to treat none as a plural like zero.

That explains number one and two. In number three, equipment is uncountable and therefore always singular.