Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 14th Oct 2009 16:00 UTC
In what is about as surprising as the sun rising in the morning, Michael Dell has started talking down netbooks. Dell made his comments about netbooks at the Churchill Club in Silicon Valley, and considering the impact of netbooks on manufacturers' bottom lines, it's really not that surprising.
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Member since:2007-11-04
"This is a linguistic issue I was touching upon, as an attempt at humour.
In Dutch, we look at the grammatical number of a noun to infer the grammatical number of the verb. In English, however, one looks at the meaning of the noun to infer the grammatical number of the verb.
"A number of people" is grammatically singular, and as such, we Dutch treat it as such. We would say: "a number of people is". In English, however, one looks at the meaning of the noun, and because of that, English people say "a number of people are".
Which, as a true holier-than-thou Dutchman, is something I find an epic cop-out.
In Dutch, we look at the grammatical number of a noun to infer the grammatical number of the verb. In English, however, one looks at the meaning of the noun to infer the grammatical number of the verb.
"A number of people" is grammatically singular, and as such, we Dutch treat it as such. We would say: "a number of people is". In English, however, one looks at the meaning of the noun, and because of that, English people say "a number of people are".
Which, as a true holier-than-thou Dutchman, is something I find an epic cop-out.
That's "number" in your sentence is the plural form of the word you just can't tell from the spelling! (can you blame Anglos, Saxons, or Latins for that?)
It's the same way for "deer". "A deer ran in front of my car." or it can be: "There are deer in my garden."
This is fun! Being a grammar Nazi is on-topic today! "
"A number" is supposed to be plural?? I don't think so. The "a" most definitely indicates singular. As in your example above "A deer is" "Ten deer are"
J
Member since:2007-11-04
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Member since:
2005-07-17
In Dutch, we look at the grammatical number of a noun to infer the grammatical number of the verb. In English, however, one looks at the meaning of the noun to infer the grammatical number of the verb.
"A number of people" is grammatically singular, and as such, we Dutch treat it as such. We would say: "a number of people is". In English, however, one looks at the meaning of the noun, and because of that, English people say "a number of people are".
Which, as a true holier-than-thou Dutchman, is something I find an epic cop-out.
That's "number" in your sentence is the plural form of the word you just can't tell from the spelling! (can you blame Anglos, Saxons, or Latins for that?)
It's the same way for "deer". "A deer ran in front of my car." or it can be: "There are deer in my garden."
This is fun! Being a grammar Nazi is on-topic today!
Edited 2009-10-14 21:25 UTC