#85864 - jake2431 - Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:32 pm
Anyone really good at English? If you have read any of my post you can see that I can hardly spell :). In the sentence "The majority of everyone that has heard the whispers _____ frightened." does is or are go in the blank? It seems like majority is, but I am not sure.
#85871 - sumiguchi - Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:05 pm
| Quote: |
| "The majority of everyone that has heard the whispers _____ frightened." |
How about:
Most people that have heard the whispers are frightened.
#85880 - jake2431 - Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:41 pm
Yeah, that works. But I was just wondering about the other. I am just curious as to whether it would be is or are because I am not sure and I would know in the future.
#85883 - keldon - Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:12 pm
"A majority of the people who have heard the wispers were frightened"
You have to consider context and tense in which the scene takes place. The fear occured when they heard the wispers, therefore they 'were' frightened as opposed to are frightened, which implies the present.
#85885 - jake2431 - Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:18 pm
Yeah, but they heard the wispers and are frightened. They heard them at one time, but are scared now. You have to hear before you fear and they fear at present. Right?
#85904 - keldon - Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:06 am
| jake2431 wrote: |
| Yeah, but they heard the wispers and are frightened. They heard them at one time, but are scared now. You have to hear before you fear and they fear at present. Right? |
It all depends on your style of text. Do you regard it as a constant update of the present or a recollection of a past event?
#86068 - jake2431 - Sun Jun 04, 2006 4:56 am
Constant update. As is, they were hear the wispers 2 weeks ago, but they are affraid now. I wouldn't want to say were affraid because they still are and were sounds like they were affraid at some point but not anymore.
#86078 - Ant6n - Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:09 am
the majority is singular, therefore it is
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=majority
i.e. refer to "When majority REFERS..."
EDIT - doh! although my exuse is that it was really late...
Last edited by Ant6n on Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:20 pm; edited 2 times in total
#86104 - wintermute - Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:10 pm
Try reading the entire article.
| Usage Note: wrote: |
| When majority refers to a particular number of votes, it takes a singular verb: Her majority was five votes. His majority has been growing by 5 percent every year. When it refers to a group of persons or things that are in the majority, it may take either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the group is considered as a whole or as a set of people considered individually. So we say The majority elects (not elect) the candidate it wants (not they want), since the election is accomplished by the group as a whole; but The majority of the voters live (not lives) in the city, since living in the city is something that each voter does individually. ?Majority is often preceded by great (but not by greater) in expressing emphatically the sense of ?most of?: The great majority approved. The phrase greater majority is appropriate only when considering two majorities: He won by a greater majority in this election than in the last. |
Fear is something the people do individually therefore the majority are afraid.
It's also whispers not wispers and rumours may be a better word in this context.
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#86260 - jake2431 - Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:10 am
Thanks guys. In the context of the writing as a whole(which this is just a part of) 'whispers' seems better. Sorry I spelled whispers wrong. As I have said in another post, I am a horrible speller, but I am working on that. I have never been good at it for some reason, but thanks for correcting me.
#86307 - sgeos - Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:55 am
I'm bad at spelling and grammar by nature. To make up for it I frequently use dictionaries. When I'm not sure, I check. Google is good for quick checks. I checked "grammar" VS "gramar" using google. (The former was correct.) I also double checked "dictionaries".
There are a bunch of English FAQs and tutorials on the net. They are worth checking out when you have questions.
-Brendan
#86370 - Dan2552 - Tue Jun 06, 2006 6:04 pm
you don't even have to open a dictionary to know how to spell 'dictionary'..