[Grammar] The reasons are twofold, with...

[roscela]

Dear teachers,


I have recently come across a sentence:
"The reasons for this phenomenon is threefold, with poverty being the first."

I don't quite understand the sentence structure, especially the phrase starting with "with". What is the function of "with" here? Is the phrase a participial phrase?

Can I write this instead?
"The reasons for this phenomenon is threefold, poverty being the first."

I would be grateful if any of you can help.


Cheers,

Roscela

 

[emsr2d2]

You can omit "with" if you wish. However, there is a problem with the original. It should read "The reasons for this phenomenon are​ threefold ..." The verb needs to agree with "reasons".

 

[roscela]

You can omit "with" if you wish. However, there is a problem with the original. It should read "The reasons for this phenomenon are​ threefold ..." The verb needs to agree with "reasons".

Thank you for the reply, but I would love to know why "with" can be omitted.

 

[Rover_KE]

It can be omitted because it is unnecessary.

Rover

 

[Tdol]

It can be omitted because it is unnecessary.

Unnecessary does not mean it's wrong- you can remove it, but leaving it in is not an error.

 

[emsr2d2]

We can say "it is not obligatory" rather than "unnecessary" if that helps. It is optional.

 

[Tdol]

I was just trying to add something. ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

I was just trying to add something. ;-)

Sorry, for some reason I thought I had posted about it being unnecessary! I didn't - you did. I've edited post #6 in light of that.