Rule -Phrase & Clause acting as Subject alwys tk Singlr

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chaitanya.mehrotra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:57 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by chaitanya.mehrotra » Sun May 15, 2011 5:41 am

I have read in Manhattan GMAT book that Phrase and Clause acting as Subject alwys tk Singlr Verb. Is this always the case?

Can someone please clarify below two options:

The last chapter of the book is always interesting. { The last chapter of the book - Phrase, so verb is singular...IS}

The last chapters of the book is/are always interesting. { The last chapter of the book - Phrase, so verb is singular...IS but using the EAR...it sounds incorrect and i believe ARE is suitable}

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun May 15, 2011 5:41 am

vineeshp: Legendary Member; Posts: 965; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:52 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 156 times; GMAT Score:720

by vineeshp » Sun May 15, 2011 7:07 am

The last chapters ... are interesting.

The problem is that "the last chapters of the book" is not a clause.

What the book says is phrase/clause. It should contain a verb.

Doing exerice is good.
Reading books IS good.
Reading a book is good.

Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert.

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sameerballani: Legendary Member; Posts: 544; Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:10 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 45 times

by sameerballani » Sun May 15, 2011 11:32 am

chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:I have read in Manhattan GMAT book that Phrase and Clause acting as Subject alwys tk Singlr Verb. Is this always the case?

Can someone please clarify below two options:

The last chapter of the book is always interesting. { The last chapter of the book - Phrase, so verb is singular...IS}

The last chapters of the book is/are always interesting. { The last chapter of the book - Phrase, so verb is singular...IS but using the EAR...it sounds incorrect and i believe ARE is suitable}

You must have read about eliminating the unnecessary(middlemen and warmup) stuff in the sentence. i feel of the book here plays the role of prepositional phrase, so eliminate it. Then it will sound simple/straight forward.

last chapter is interesting and last chapterS are interesting

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Sun May 15, 2011 4:12 pm

vineeshp wrote:The last chapters ... are interesting.

The problem is that "the last chapters of the book" is not a clause.

What the book says is phrase/clause. It should contain a verb.

Doing exerice is good.
Reading books IS good.
Reading a book is good.

This is exactly right, though AND can still make compound (and therefore plural) subjects:

Doing exercise and reading books are good ways to spend your time.

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