[Ads-l] "A _team_ of UC Davis students _are_..."
MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US)
william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL
Fri Dec 30 17:14:04 UTC 2016
... or a not-very-careful writer, who isn't paying close attention to what he is saying, and lets things go without a final proofread?
>
>
> > ... or Subtle Semantic Difference, differentiating between the group
> > considered
> > *as* a group, and the group considered as a set of individuals?
> >
> > "A team of UC Davis students is expected to perform well it arrives tomorrow"
> >
> > vs.
> >
> > "A team of UC Davis students are expected to riot when they arrive tomorrow"
> >
> > R.
> >
> > >
> > > On 30 December 2016 at 00:25 Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > 1) Creeping Britspeak?
> > >
> > > 2) Operation of the innovation that the number of the verb is
> > > controlled by
> > > the number of the closest noun preceding the verb - "students" -
> > > and not by
> > > the number of the subject - "team"?
> > >
> > > Since the author later writes
> > >
> > > "... the UC Davis _team seeks_ ..."
> > >
> > > wherein the *singular* subject immediately precedes the verb and not the
> > > *plural* object of a preposition, the answer is very likely (2).
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Wilson
> > > -----
> >
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