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as well as - plural or singular?

  • 08-08-2005 11:50am
    #1
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,484 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Try this sentence:

    "The car, as well as the bicycle, belong/belongs to John".

    Should there be commas and should the verb be singular or plural?


Comments

  • #2
    Pinx
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭Pinx


    Hmm - good one.
    Alternatively, how about:
    The car and the bicycle both belong to John?
    :)


  • #3
    Hagar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,793 ✭✭✭✭Hagar


    The commas are perfect.
    The correct form of the verb is "belongs" as it refers to a single item, a car. The phrase within the commas can be left out entirely without affecting the meaning of the sentence. The presence of the bicycle does not make it plural as it is encapsulated within the commas for information purposes only.


  • #4
    Baz_
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,660 ✭✭✭Baz_


    pickarooney wrote:
    Try this sentence:

    "The car, as well as the bicycle, belong/belongs to John".

    Should there be commas and should the verb be singular or plural?

    verb singular

    commas optional

    imho of course...

    <edit>
    :o

    Maybe you should just ignore my post
    </edit>


  • #5
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    Hagar wrote:
    The commas are perfect.
    The correct form of the verb is "belongs" as it refers to a single item, a car. The phrase within the commas can be left out entirely without affecting the meaning of the sentence. The presence of the bicycle does not make it plural as it is encapsulated within the commas for information purposes only.

    I agree.


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