This
is William Safire’s fourth rule of grammar. (I have three left, then I’ll have
to start thinking up new blog topics.)
What
do you think? Does this drive you crazy? It does me!
Easy
examples:
wrong:
The girls has talked to me.
right:
The girls have talked to me.
wrong:
We talks to the girls.
right:
We talk to the girls.
The
slightly obscure, to some people, examples are the problems.
wrong:
Neither of them have talked to me.
right:
Neither of them has talked to me.
Neither
is singular and it’s the subject.
wrong:
Janet and Kaye has both talked to me.
right:
Janet and Kaye have both talked to me.
Both
talked, so plural.
wrong:
Janet or Kaye have talked to me.
right:
Janet or Kaye has talked to me.
Only
one talked, so singular.
Which
one here is wrong or right?
The
girls talked to me.
The
girl talked to me.
AHA,
doesn’t matter here.
I
took some of this from here:
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