I seem to remember learning a rule that the following sentence should be written like this (because of the conjunction "and") :   The future strength AND long-term stability of our company ARE rooted in a disciplined risk management strategy.  However, I'm seeing the singular 'is" used a lot in the company I work for:   The future strength AND long-term stability of our company IS rooted in a disciplined risk management strategy.  My question is whether or not they are both acceptable?
17294
I was surfing the internet the other day when I found this phrase: Instead your precious time and attention is wasted. To my ears, it sounds wrong. But I'm not a native English speaker, so I consulted with a number of them, and some of them said that it was "is" because the adjective modifies only the noun "time" and not "attention". Others said it "is" because that's just how it is. But I still believe it should be "are". Any help is appreciated.
73008
Possible Duplicate:     Which one is correct? I thought the latter would be correct but apparently the former is always used; why? Edit: Another (confusing) example:
72201
I would like to paraphrase a sentence:     "This is how the costs of each course should be."   So my idea was:     "This is how the price/prices per course should be."    What are the differences between singular + per vs. plural + per?  Or  If you have better paraphrases, you're very welcome to share them.  Thank you very much :)
1344
Possible Duplicate:          Would I use is or are in the following sentence?      The Pohutakawa Coast, Hauraki Gulf, and Waiheke Island is/are the backdrop for our day.   If I rewrote it so the subject (backdrop) starts the sentence, then it seems to me that as it is singular, the verb should be the singular is. But as it is written above, are seems less clumsy.
45728
I'm confused by the use of plural and singular when Every is use. Which of the following sentences is correct?    Every business has its own unique set of challenges, resulting in a different approach even if they have the same goals. Every businesses have their own unique set of challenges, resulting in different approaches even if they have the same goals.
24254
I've been having an argument with a colleague about this sentence, could you please let me know which one of us is correct:     There are no shortage of applications for our product in this   space.   She is convinced that are should be replaced by is, and I think it should stand as it is. Thanks for your help!
74070
Context: I am writing a short text to explain the main differences between Spanish passive sentences with "ser" and "estar", one of which is verb choice: sometimes the adjectival form should be chosen, and sometimes the participle form should. Those are generally the same, but sometimes they differ. The problematic sentence goes like:     Some examples where the participle and the adjectival form differ are: [and a list follows]   In a previous , it was explained that the noun (form) can be either in singular or plural. Because the noun was a general thing, I decided to go with the singular form, but then a verb followed (differ). Now, my question is:    Should the verb be conjugated in third person singular (differs) or plural (differ)?   Common sense tells me that it should be a plural (since there are two forms), but "differ" after "form" doesn't sound right (or does it?). I know I could just change form to forms, but I would like to keep it singular. Besides, I really am interested in knowing how the verb should be conjugated in this kind of phrases when the noun is to be kept in singular.
41438
In the finance field, it is quite common to express some measures in relation to some grouping criteria. Some groupings can be temporal (year, month, etc.) and others like greography, asset class (e.g. a financial product), strategy (used in trading), and others.   Which one is the most appropriate preposition to apply in this kind of expression ?    "VaR per asset" or "VaR by asset" "P&amp;L per strategy" or "P&amp;L by strategy".   Is there any well defined rule behind the most appropriate use ?
30412
What is the correct form in the following sentences, "both" and "both of them"?      a) "Both of them are unique."      b) "Both are unique."   If "both" by itself already contains "both of them", so I can conclude that the first option is not correct. Isn't it?
89355
I've been confused about this as long as I can remember. Should it be:     One should do ones duty.   or     One should do one's duty.   I'm guessing it should be the latter. But that doesn't sit well with the possessive pronoun 'its'. For example:     It is its own purpose.   vs.     It is it's own purpose.   Here, the former seems clearly correct.
27263
Is this sentence correct as is, or should I remove the second has since that phrase is connected to the preceding one with and?     As Mr. X has replied your email and has requested the 'PDF files' of the project, here please find attached the requested files.
96225
The first and second chapters are....   Or      The first and the second chapters are...   Which is the correct usage? Is it correct to use the for both the phrases or not?? Please explain to me.
7463
A friend wants to write,   There is no hardware to purchase, no additional software to install and no key fobs to worry about.   This is awkward because the verb "is" doesn't match up with the third item, which is plural and demands "There are" as the subject. However,    There is no hardware to purchase, no additional software to install and there are no key fobs to worry about.   sounds awkward as well.  Is there a good workaround for this problem where some list items are singular and some are plural, so they don't share a common verb?
6839
I know that words like login and payoff are properly nouns but I increasingly notice many (not at all uneducated) people use them as verbs:     Will you payoff your credit card this month?   and     Please check this when you login.   To me (a non-native English user), that seems incorrect because separating the core noun from a preposition is what I was taught: Please check this when you log in. (My emphasis)  Is this use proper or not?
79749
In this sentence:     Four items are responsible for three-fourths of the overall spending around the world, the most prominent share being that of food.   Why after the comma, the verb "being" is used? Why it does not use "is"?
7603
I cannot make much sense of one in the following passage from :  Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline one for the present, hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers.  If  is a noun in this passage, then  must serve here as a pronoun. If so, isn't the sentence lacking in punctuation? Rewriting would make it less ambiguous:  Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline, one for the present hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers.  Furthermore, I can't help thinking that one is not needed here at all:  Now, the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline for the present, hereafter to be filled in all its departments by subsequent laborers.  If Melville correctly worded this sentence, what is the function of one in it? What are your thoughts on my modifications?
56149
I'm not a native english speaker, so even though I'm decently proficient at it, I don't really "know the rules" sometimes, and this is one that's been confusing me for a long time.  Which one is correct in each sentence?     If the movement [was/were] to continue uncorrected, the tower would   one day topple.      If I [was/were] rich, I would buy a yacht.   NOTE: I care not only about the case of "I", but also "she", "them", "it", etc, as in the example of the tower. Would it be any different if instead of the tower, it'd be me who'd topple if uncorrected?  I'm pretty sure it's "were" in both cases. That's what they taught me, I think. I started to doubt when I saw a lot of "was", but it sounded like the typical intentional mistake used "stylistically". ("If I was a rich girl...")  Then I saw it some more and thought it came down to an American/British English difference (I was taught British, in theory, and most of what I read is American).    But that tower sentence came straight from "The Guardian"...  When do you use was and when do you use were?