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Fri 30 Oct, 2015 10:54 am
I have a sentence: "This in-depth discussion of current processes allows us to capture current system requirements, expose rules that govern decision making, and brings to light areas where improvement, optimization, or automation are needed."
I keep thinking the "are needed" at the end needs to be "is needed". But I keep getting overruled. To me, the use of "or" in the preceding series indicates that there could be one improvement, one optimization, or one automation, and because of that, we should use "is needed".
Set me one the correct path, please! And thank you!!!
@mtngoatjoe,
are
it goes back to the areas ... are
___
separately, use bring to light instead of brings
capture/expose/bring
@mtngoatjoe,
Yea Joe. However "and" still works given the remote and not-well-known technicality that "or" can mean "and/or". Thus most of the time a program needs improvement only in optimization but once in a while also in automation
I suppose the ultimate answer depends on context, just what's meant by the "current processes"
@mtngoatjoe,
mtngoatjoe wrote:
I have a sentence: "This in-depth discussion of current processes allows us to capture current system requirements, expose rules that govern decision making, and brings to light areas where improvement, optimization, or automation are needed."
I keep thinking the "are needed" at the end needs to be "is needed". But I keep getting overruled. To me, the use of "or" in the preceding series indicates that there could be one improvement, one optimization, or one automation, and because of that, we should use "is needed".
Set me one the correct path, please! And thank you!!!
"where improvement, optimization, or automation are needed" is a subordinate adverbial clause that has its own S-V. The "or" is disjunctive, not conjunctive/additive, so it has to agree with the noun nearest it in the compound subject. In this case, "automation" is singular, so the verb should be the singular "is." (The "areas" aren't needed. The other things are.)
Quote:Deciding which verb to use can be tricky. Here are the general rules:
1. A compound subject whose parts are joined by and usually takes a plural verb regardless of whether those parts are plural or singular:
TWO SINGULAR: The dog and the cat bother me.
TWO PLURAL: The dogs and cats fight all the time.
ONE SINGULAR, ONE PLURAL: Joe and the kids need me.
2. A compound subject made up of two singular parts that are joined by or or nor takes a singular verb:
(Either) James or John knows who is coming to the party.
(Neither) James nor John knows who is coming to the party.
3. A compound subject made up of one singular part and one plural part that are joined by or or nor must use a verb whose number matches the number of the part of the subject that is closest to the verb:
CORRECT: (Either) The dog or the kids were making a racket downstairs. [kids were...]
CORRECT: (Either) The kids or the dog was making a racket downstairs. [dog was...]
INCORRECT: (Either) The dog or the kids was making a racket downstairs.
INCORRECT: (Either) The kids or the dog were making a racket downstairs.
CORRECT: (Neither) Joe nor the kids want pizza. [kids want...]
CORRECT: (Neither) The kids nor Joe wants pizza. [Joe wants...]
INCORRECT: (Neither) Joe nor the kids wants pizza.
INCORRECT: (Neither) The kids nor Joe want pizza.
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/qa/compound-subjects-and-verb-number
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