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What I meant was that, if you go back to my example in green, there isn't the opportunity to mis- or reinterpret the statement to come up with an outcome which requires the plural form of the verb. The example can only be reasonably interpreted in one way.
Caradea and ASp disagree with me. Faldage pokes the borax.
The examples Bingley used were, however, quite open to the interpretations he suggested, and the change in the cardinality of the verb clearly changed the meaning of the sentences.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thank you, CK; you have made my point in your usual beautiful way.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Neither. As you well know!
A) That's not the sentence I was asking you about. It was the "I see no need to start looking for different meanings in a sentence to justify a particular grammatical interpretation of it, I'm afraid" one. And you don't need to be afraid. You've met me FtF and you know I'm harmless, mostly.
2) By artificially limiting the PP in He is one of the men who does/do the work. to of the men you limit the meaning of the sentence. If the PP is of the men who does/do the work then you open it back up for the other interpretation.
Thorn (and if you still *need a reason to dislike Macs, the lack of the ability to get a thorn is a classic example of ril*)) I *still don't know what poking the borax means.
*res ips(e,a) loquitur
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Carpal Tunnel
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Speak for (its)(your)self!  And it's the Earth that's harmless, mostly. And that's just a short hop from the Sun really, Ithaca-wise, and close to several pubs. Now, to the argument in Illinois ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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harmless, mostly...close to several pubs
You're right, Cap, I looked it up and what I am is "essentially harmless". But it's just a technicality and you know it. Next time you come to Ithaca I'll take you all the way to Pluto. No pubs close to there.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is this a guy thing and you're just having fun, or do I have to send you to your rooms with no dessert?[hands-on-hips-e]
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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Yeah. Like consuelo said.  And what does "poke the borax" mean, anyway?
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Carpal Tunnel
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We are talking about two passengers here, aren't we? This is the equivalent of saying, "Both of the passengers were, at most, hurt only slightly." So why should the number of the verb change just because we have changed the way we say it?
Alternatively, since they, in fact, weren't hurt, this is a contrary-to-fact construction and we use the subjunctive.
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Carpal Tunnel
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a shaky grasp of the grammatical and syntactical complexities
So, if you have that shaky a grasp of the grammatical and syntactical complexities you shouldn't even know that there are some who feel there is a problem here.
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