Letter: Language is beyond grammar

Friday 29 August 1997 23:02 BST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: Peter Brodie (Letters, 28 August) mentions "tarring and feathering is too good for him" as an example where we use a singular verb because "tarring and feathering" is seen as a singular subject. But what about this: "More than one person is present"? Here we have a subject that is explicitly plural, with a singular verb.

Face it, grammar is our attempt to describe how we use the language, but our explanations are not always up to it.

NORMAN PATERSON

Anstruther, Fife

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Letter: Language is beyond grammar

Join our commenting forum

Thank you for registering