Re: simple present: third person singular verb without -s


In the message <ev88n2$6pl$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Don Phillipson
<d.phillipsonSPAMBLOCK@xxxxxx> wrote:


"Shine" <shineraju@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1175952830.299251.69650@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi friends,

There is this picture in my grammar book* in which three friends are
having a conversation. Here is the transcript of their conversation:

Friend of Vicky 1: WHAT are you looking FOR, Vicky?
Vicky: My money. I don't know if I've got enough.
Friend of Vicky 2: WHAT are you worrying ABOUT? It's free, look.

The picture/conversation is followed by a small description of grammar
by the author:

'Daniel and Rachel each ask Vicky a question. In each question, the
word WHAT is the object of a preposition (FOR, ABOUT).'

Provided it is not a typo, why doesn't the verb 'ask' take an s-ending
in the sentence above?

Congratulations on your sharp eye -- because you have
spotted an error in this textbook. The word EACH tells
us that the verb ASK should be in the singular ASKS,
not the plural DANIEL AND RACHEL ASK.


Patient: "Doctor, my leg hurts. I don't know why."

Doctor: "How does the other leg feel? Does it have a pain?"

Patient: "Well, now that I come to think about it, they each has a pain."

Doctor: "Come again?"


There is an American/British difference in the methods
of counting groups as singular or plural. E.g. correct
usage is "Congress has decided" and "Parliament
have decided."


Tafatbomg (whoopee! that acronym seems to be a first for the public parts of
the internet!).

Dear Don in Canada, those last two sentences of yours are a red herring if
you think they belong in any fair reply to Shine's question about "each".
Anyway, I invite you to ransack the websites of some mainstream UK-based
publishers and broadcasters (especially _The Times_, _The Guardian_, the
various manifestations of the [London] _Telegraph_, _The Independent_, _The
Scotsman_, ITV and the BBC) for mentions of "parliament have decided", where
"parliament" constitutes the subject of the clause (as opposed, for
instance, to "Labour members of parliament have decided"). Perhaps some
other readers will chime in to help you in the assignment.

Then I invite you to ransack the same websites for mentions of "parliament
has decided" using the same criterion.

Then I invite you to compare one set of results with the other.


But this does not apply in your textbook
example. The author erred.


Er . . . certainly _an_ author has erred, twice in the one post in
alt.usage.english.

--
Dr Aybeecee Legge-Pullen.
(I have a pet cure for the pain, but I haven't yet administered it in
the case that's presenting itself to me now.)


.

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