But you would think an author - a professional writer - would know better, wouldn't you? Or that the editor in charge of publishing this writer's guest column in the newspaper would take a good look? Apparently not. Even the most experienced writers make mistakes. Read on.
Subject-verb agreement is a very simple concept:
Singular noun takes a singular verb:
The man reads. He reads.
Plural noun takes a plural verb:
The children read. They read.
Problems arise when additional words are placed between the subject and its verb:
The man travelling with a pile of suitcases and two teenagers reads.
"Teenagers reads"? Our ear picks up that the verb doesn't sound right next to the plural noun - but the noun teenagers is not the subject of the verb reads. The subject of the verb is man.
And that's exactly the problem that arises in this excerpt.
 |
But wait a minute... The ship's surgeon state...?
The phrase talking of novels separates the noun from its verb. And because the last word of the phrase is plural, the writer chose a plural verb to follow....
Fail!
Why? Because the verb state doesn't belong to the noun novels; it belongs to surgeon. Yes, the singular surgeon. Take out the modifying phrase and the subject-verb relationship becomes clear.
The ship's surgeon, Stephen Maturin, states that...
(I've added the required comma, too. I mean, how many ship's surgeons were there, anyway?? Don't get me started...!)
Which all goes to prove that even the most accomplished writers make mistakes. Editors, please take note!
No comments:
Post a Comment