Agreement question

[Arnold Zwicky]

jesse sheidlower reports the odd number agreement in "The stories the
press tell are shaped..."  and considers (a) the proximity of
"stories", (b) notional plurality of "press", and (c) the -s ending of
"press".

i agree that the original example doesn't sound so bad.  but things
get *much* worse with singular "story": "The story the press tell is
shaped..."  since factors (b) and (c) aren't changed here, we're
left with (a) - perhaps in combination with (d) an anticipation of the
plural "are" immediately following "tell(s)" (and triggered by the
earlier "stories").

it's possible to vary some of the factors independently:
  (a), (b), (c), no (d): The stories the press tell will be shaped...
  (a), (b), no (c), (d): The stories the internet tell are shaped...
  (a), no (b), (c), (d): The stories our wire service tell are shaped...
the last two are unquestionably wretched for me, but the first might
get past me, which suggests that the plurality of "stories" is the
most important factor (though the others might help some).

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)