[Grammar] Was, Were

[Mountiee]

"The courage shown by Peter and the courage shown by Mark was/were praiseworthy."
"The courage shown both by Peter and by Mark was/were praiseworthy."
"The courage shown both by Peter and Mark was/were praiseworthy."

Should it be plural or singular?

 

[BrunaBC]

NOT A TEACHER

In portuguese we face the same situation, where both singular and plural are possible, but portuguese aside, I believe the verb should be singular 'was'. If you read it carefuly and find the subject, you will see it's 'the courage', so the courage was.
But just for sure let's wait for the teachers reply.;-)

 

[tzfujimino]

"The courage shown by Peter and the courage shown by Mark was/were praiseworthy."
In this case, 'were' is grammatical because the subject is 'the courage...and the courage...'(plural)
However, I don't think it's quite natural. I feel it's a bit too wordy.

"The courage shown both by Peter and by Mark was/were praiseworthy."
'was' is grammatical because the subject is 'The courage...'
I find 'both by Peter and by Mark' a bit wordy. 'by Peter and Mark' would be enough.

"The courage shown both by Peter and Mark was/were praiseworthy."
'was' is grammatical because the subject is 'The courage...'
I feel 'both by Peter and Mark' unnatural. 'by both Peter and Mark' might be OK.
I would delete 'both' to economize on wordage.
Should it be plural or singular?

Hello!:-D
My idea is above in blue.
Please wait for some native speakers to reply.

 

[5jj]

"The courage shown by Peter and the courage shown by Mark was/were praiseworthy."
"The courage shown both by Peter and by Mark was/were praiseworthy."
"The courage shown both by Peter and Mark was/were praiseworthy."

Should it be plural or singular?

The first sentence is not natural English. In the second and third sentences, 'courage' is an uncountable quality that can be shown by more than one person; the verb is 'was'.

tzfujimino and Bruna, your desire to help is appreciated. However, if you know that your answers will have to be confirmed by a teacher/native speaker, it would be better to wait until the teacher/native speaker has responded. People see that a response has beeen given and look at the thread, only to find that one hasn't.

 

[tzfujimino]

5jj - I'm sorry. I think I've made it a little confusing. I'll wait for native speakers' reply.

 

[5jj]

5jj - I'm sorry. I think I've made it a little confusing. I'll wait for native speakers' reply.

It's not a serious problem. We just all need to be aware that an answer that effectively amounts to 'I don't know' can be frustrating for visitors to the thread. I occasionally find myself halfway through a response when I realise that I am just waffling - I cannot really answer the question posted. If I realise this (and I don't always ), I then delete my response before I have even posted it, and wait to see what others say. I may have something useful to say, or ask, later.

If no reponse at all has been posted for several hours (my personal time period is about 8-10 hours), then I feel that an 'I am not sure, but ...' response is fine. Such a response is then often more helpful to the OP than none - and it may inspire others to add their thoughts.