Thanks, Carol. That is most helpful. Is it is. I knew that intellectually but wish it sounded right too. For example, change “manner” to “manners” in the Strunk and White example and it doesn’t seem as clear cut: "His speech as well as his manners is objectionable."
Dick Veit
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carol Morrison
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2008 4:11
PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: a
subject-verb-agreement question
According to Strunk and White in The Elements of Style, "[a] singular subject remains singular even if other nouns are connected to it by with, as well as, in addition to, except, together with, and no less than (21). So I believe that your last example would take the verb "is". Strunk and White give the following example: "His speech as well as his manner is objectionable" (21). I'm not sure if the comma between "society at large" and "as well as" changes that in your sentence though.
--- On Sun, 6/15/08, Veit, Richard <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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