The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related...
Is subject here "The 32 species that make up the dolphin family" singular or plural?
OG answer explanation says plural owing to 32 species. I feel it should be singular owing to "family" as a singular collective noun.
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OG15, SC Q67
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The noun that is the subject of the sentence is "species." The word "family" is contained in a modifier, so it isn't the subject.
Imagine that the modifier were something different -- let's say "The 32 species of dolphins that come from Madagascar are closely related..." We wouldn't say that the verb should be "is" because of "Madagascar." It's clear that the sentence is talking about dolphin species, not Madagascar. The original problem from the OG has the exact same structure.
Karen van Hoek
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Imagine that the modifier were something different -- let's say "The 32 species of dolphins that come from Madagascar are closely related..." We wouldn't say that the verb should be "is" because of "Madagascar." It's clear that the sentence is talking about dolphin species, not Madagascar. The original problem from the OG has the exact same structure.
Karen van Hoek
Test Prep New York
______
If you find my posts helpful, please click the "thank" icon at the top of the page and/or follow me!
Karen is the Head Verbal Tutor for Test Prep New York/Test Prep San Francisco. TPSF/TPNY is the only test prep co. that fuses content mastery and test-taking strategy with positive mindset. Tests, after all, don't measure only what you know or how well you know it; tests also measure how well you take tests.
Test Prep New York/Test Prep San Francisco
Maximize your Score, Minimize your Stress!
testprepny.com
Twitter: TestPrepNY
