plural or singular? Are vs. Is

[Tortoise]

1/ One asks another how many people there are in the classroom now, (well, i don't remember exactly the question -maybe "Can you see anyone in the classroom now?", so I report it): and the answer is:
Yes, there _____ a teacher and fifty students in thise classroom now.
a) is
b) are
I think "are", but the key given is "is".

2/ Everyone has to prepare the report _________.
a) yourself
b) himself.
I think "himself", but the teacher says :"yourself". He explains that the sentence is in the context:
Teacher (to his students): "Everyone has to do the report yourself"

[Alan]

Hi,

In 1) I would prefer 'are' since the meaning is 'a teacher and fifty students are in this classroom.

In 2) You could use 'himself' but certainly not 'yourself'. Personally I don't like this 'himself/herself' construction when you don't know the gender of the subject. I prefer: Everyone has to do the report THEMSELVES.

Hope this has some use.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Start or begin?

[Sunflower.baby]

Hello,
In my opinion, i think that the answer for the 1st one is "ARE" because we used the "and" keyword in the sentence. If some context we say "there is a teacher OR fifty students in the classroom" => we will use "IS" here for the nearest noun ("teacher").

For the 2nd, i think both "yourself" and "himself" are OK but "themselves" could not be the pronoun for "everyone", in speaking is ok but i am not sure in writing.
Please correct me if there is any mistake.
Cheers, Hieu.

[Yankee]

Welcome to the forums, Sunflower.babe.

[Prezbucky]

... except then we run into the singular/plural problem.

Is it more important to be culturally (?) offensive or grammatically illogical?

hehe

It's time to come up with non-sexed singular pronouns

HEIR & HEIRSELF!


_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Tortoise]

1/ Well, let's look at the exact question:

- Can you see anybody in that classroom?
- Yes. There _____ a teacher and fifty students there.

So, "are" is still the choice?

2/ Our grandfather ______ as an engineer for 30 years before he retired in 1998.
a) worked
b) had been working
My choice is b), right?

3/ Which do you prefer to use, tortoise or turtle? Is "turtle" an American English word? And is there any difference between the two words - animals?

[Yankee]

Hi tortoise

I have a number of thoughts about (1):
- I personally think most native speakers would use 'is' in the sentence.
- It could be argued the "a teacher and fifty students" is viewed as one unit. In other words, a normal "set of things" to find in any classroom is "a teacher and students".

(2)
Both answers are possible.

(3)
I almost always use the word 'turtle'. As far as I know, a tortoise is found only on land. Turtles are found on land and also in the sea.

[Tortoise]

Thank you, Yankee.

(3) I have the same thought. Turtles live both on land and in sea, and tortoises live only on land But sometimes tortoises need a lake or pond to swim in or to drink water

[Tortoise]

Another question: Which is the best choice:

- Please call the doctor if the victim is _____ hurt.
a) badly
b) ally

[Snezana]

Hello tortoise,

Am I missing something? Ally?!?!
Did you mean ILLY? (which is also something I have rarely seen).

Snezana

[Maggie]

Hi,guys

The answer to this question is a) badly,am I right? I am thinking that no reason to use ally here. And 'badly',is a kind of adjetive. So it doesn't affect this sentense. But if add 'ally',it's weird.

Please correct my mistakes if possible.

Greetings!

Maggie

[Tortoise]

Oh, no I meant "accidentally". And the question now reads:
- Please call the doctor if the victim is _____ hurt.
a) badly
b) accidentally

So, what is your choice?

[Prezbucky]

They mean two different things. I would imagine one would want to call the doctor in either case, though with "badly" we know more about the severity of the injury. On the other hand, "accidentally" tells us more about the circumstances of the injury itself -- how did it happen, was it user error (negligence) or chance (accident)?

Both words may be seen as constraints -- when, exactly, do we call the doctor?

"Badly" could be used thusly: only call the doctor if the victim is badly hurt.

"Accidentally" might also feasibly be seen as a constraint: if it's not an accidental injury, don't call the doctor. If it was user error, let the victim suffer! (hehe)

Putting constraints aside, either will work, technically, in this sentence.
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Maggie]

Hi,tortoise

I think the answer should be 'accidentally'. However,I agree with prezbucky's idea that 'badly' is also okay when some special cases. I meant it depends on the situation. In my opinion,some of the questions are not great to let people answer without descriping the details.

Greetings!

Maggie^^