Marvin writes:
Sentence below appears in today's Tallahassee Democrat,
http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/NEWS01/609150344/1010
He, along with five other FCI officers, were charged in connection with a conspiracy that involved bringing inmates banned items in exchange for sexual favors.
Shouldn't that sentence be "He ... was" and that adverb phrase "along with five other FCI officers" be ignored as not relevant in determining the verb?
You're right. If the sentence had been written, "He and five other FCI officers..." the verb would be "were." But "along with" is not a conjunction, so the five other officers are not part of the subject.
Kindly let me know whether the verb agrees with the subject in the following sentence. Plz give reasons.
"My guide and guardian have arrived."
Posted by: Account Deleted | December 11, 2010 at 06:52 AM
If you are talking about two persons, then the verb should be "have."
But sometimes we have more than one "name" for a person: "The teacher and writer is lecturing on her travels," for example. In such cases, we use the singular form of the verb.
Posted by: Crof | December 11, 2010 at 07:30 AM