Dik,

A more pragmatic analysis might be that in #1, the subject is a phrase, and in 
#2, the subject is a word.

Paul
 "If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable 
fiction" (_Twelfth Night_ 3.4.127-128). 





________________________________
From: Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sun, January 20, 2013 10:21:27 AM
Subject: Re: Subject/verb agreement

What this discussion demonstrates is that simple rules are not always quite so 
simple, and that conceptual understanding trumps a literal application of rules.

The simple rule is: "A verb must agree in number with the head noun of the 
subject." 


Taken literally, we'd have to say "an estimated 210,000 gallons a day are 
coming" [we also wouldn't be able to use "an"] and "a slew of officials has been 
exposed." But in the former we are not picturing individual gallons but a mass 
of oil. The reverse is true in the latter, where we see individuals, not a mass. 


We can illustrate this notion with the following sentences, where a change in 
the verb's number alters meaning:

     1. Six glasses of wine is bad.
     2. Six glasses of wine are bad.

The first, we're thinking an overindulgence resulting in inebriation; the 
second, a critique at a wine tasting.

Dick




On Sun, Jan 20, 2013 at 2:27 AM, John Chorazy <[log in to unmask]> 
wrote:

Without my own comments on these sentences or a longer preface, I'll just submit 
them and ask for your thoughts on subject/verb agreement. Thank you...
>
>According to NOAA, an estimated 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) a day is coming 
>from the remaining ruptures (PBS).
> 
>In recent months, a slew of low-level Communist officials as well as a few high 
>ranking ones —most notably the vice party chief of the southwestern province of 
>Sichuan, Li Chuncheng— have been exposed by local media and dismissed from their 
>positions after their sexual peccadilloes came to light (NBC News).To join or 
>leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: 
>http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the 
>list" 
>
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/