 Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:41 am the law of proximity in grammar |
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I presume that you are speaking of proximal concord, in which a verb may agree in number with a nearer noun rather than with its grammatical referent.
A group of boys are standing over there. -- Although the sentence subject is singular (group), the verb is plural (are) because the concept 'boys' (a plural noun) is nearer it.
It is not a 'law' in the sense that you must obey it, but it does leave open the possibility of two natural formations:
A group of boys is/are standing over there
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On second thought, another possible 'law of proximity' is that modifiers (adverbs and adjectives) should be placed as near as possible to their referents in order to avoid confusion:
(X)The man gave me a sandwich who is sitting over there.
The man who is sitting over there gave me a sandwich.
The modifying clause (who is sitting over there) should be placed near its referent (man)-- just in case we might think it is a sitting sandwich (somewhat personified).
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