A Clumsy Sentence

Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

The passed few days have been busy ones for us.

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For several years I’ve been studying Welsh on Duolingo, hoping I’ll be able to speak Welsh when I travel to Wales on a future trip.

So I enjoyed reading a New York Times article suggesting that Stonehenge (a prehistoric site I’ve visited) may have been erected in Wales and then moved to England.

Most of the article was engaging and well written. But one sentence was awkward and confusing: “The entrance to both circles were aligned toward the midsummer solstice sunrise.”

The person who wrote that sentence seems to have been confused about an important subject-verb agreement rule. I’m going to review the rule for you, and then I’ll point out a recent wrinkle.

Let’s take a simple sentence:

Misuse of prescription drugs often is/are dangerous.

What’s dangerous – the prescription drugs, or the misuse of them? Obviously the problem is misuse. (Antibiotics save lives!) So: misuse is.

Misuse of prescription drugs often is dangerous. CORRECT

English teachers sometimes say that you need to be aware of the loud and soft parts of sentences. I think that’s a great way to explain why you need to think about misuse is in our example.

But – as I said – there’s a wrinkle: the rule is disappearing. Even the meticulously edited New Yorker magazine sometimes publishes sentences like this one:

A group of German tourists are camping here for three nights.

It should be a group is. But nowadays you don’t have to make a fuss about it.

On the other hand, let’s not abandon common sense! The journalist who wrote our Stonehenge sentence ended up writing grammatical nonsense (the circle are). Here’s my version:

The entrances to both circles were aligned toward the midsummer solstice sunrise. CORRECT

Not difficult! You can read more about Wales and Stonehenge at this link.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Passed is an action. (The -ed ending is a helpful clue.) The word you need is past.

The past few days have been busy ones for us. CORRECT

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