Subject verb Agreement

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Subject verb Agreement

by saranshpuri » Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:44 am
Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to its knees.

water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to
water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down
water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to
water crisis is about to bring the country's economy to
water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down to

ANSWER :C
Source : Economist Tutor.

My Question is Whether Crisis Mentioned is Singular or Plural and Why?? I considered Crisis as SINGULAR becuase of 'THE' before crisis.

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by Uva@90 » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:36 am
saranshpuri wrote:Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to its knees.

water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to
water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down
water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to
water crisis is about to bring the country's economy to
water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down to

ANSWER :C
Source : Economist Tutor.

My Question is Whether Crisis Mentioned is Singular or Plural and Why?? I considered Crisis as SINGULAR becuase of 'THE' before crisis.
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Hi Saranshpuri,
Are you sure is answer C ?

I feel Answer should be A.
here is my explanation,
"AND" combines the two or more singular subject to form a compound plural subject.

Crises is plural noun of crisis.
Hence Option C cant be the answer.

And to the more Compound subject takes the plural verb form "Are"
hence option B,E cant be answer.

Option D omits the Oil crisis.

Hence Option A should be the answer.

Experts correct me if I am wrong.

Regards,
Uva.
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by saranshpuri » Sun Mar 16, 2014 7:06 am
I know Oil and Water Crisis make the Subject Plural, but i am Concerned more about the use of 'THE' before Crisis.

Dont u think Presence of 'THE' makes the whole Subject Singluar.

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:57 am
saranshpuri wrote:I know Oil and Water Crisis make the Subject Plural, but i am Concerned more about the use of 'THE' before Crisis.

Dont u think Presence of 'THE' makes the whole Subject Singluar.
No, I don't think so. As an example:

The Ferrari and Lamborghini drivers are fighting after their accident.

The definite article "the" does not make the subject singular.
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by ankushtulips » Tue Mar 18, 2014 5:37 am
Isn't crisis an abstract noun and cannot be made plural?

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:48 am
ankushtulips wrote:Isn't crisis an abstract noun and cannot be made plural?
No, it is a concrete noun because a crisis is a tangible event.

Even if it were abstract, that would not prevent it from being plural. Dreams, beliefs, thoughts, etc., are plural abstract nouns.
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