Last week I posted about the need to avoid wordiness. This week I’m tackling a specific instance of subject-verb agreement.
Subjects and verbs in a sentence must agree in number. Most writers have little difficulty instilling this agreement in their sentences. However, a few words, typically with Greek roots, can pose problems.
One such word is phenomenon, which means something observable. Phenomenon is singular. The plural form of phenomenon is phenomena. Yet some writers confuse the two.
Take the example sentence in the graphic above, for instance. Phenomena, the subject of the sentence, is plural, and so the verb in the sentence must be plural also. Yet has been understood is singular; have been understood is plural. Thus, the more proper sentence reads
Subjects and verbs in a sentence must agree in number. Most writers have little difficulty instilling this agreement in their sentences. However, a few words, typically with Greek roots, can pose problems.
One such word is phenomenon, which means something observable. Phenomenon is singular. The plural form of phenomenon is phenomena. Yet some writers confuse the two.
Take the example sentence in the graphic above, for instance. Phenomena, the subject of the sentence, is plural, and so the verb in the sentence must be plural also. Yet has been understood is singular; have been understood is plural. Thus, the more proper sentence reads
The phenomena associated with this failure mode have been understood only within the past twenty years.
If the writer wanted to use the singular forms, the sentence would need to appear something like this:
The phenomenon of this failure mode has been understood only within the past twenty years.
Beware the phenomenon of subject-verb mismatch! Such devices always weaken writing, making it more difficult to convey to your audience the positive image of your brand that you want to convey.
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