The Use of Verbs

The w ord interests exercises the fatal attraction so that the journalist
writes The area . . . have shrunk instead o f has shrunk. And just as the
plural noun interests lures the w riter astray there, so the singular noun
subject lures the w riter astray below.
The tensions among naval intelligence staff inside the building known as
the Citadel was the subject of a recent report.
Surely the tensions w ere the subject o f a report. Here the w riter m ight
urge that he strays w here the great have strayed in that the King James
Bible includes the m uch quoted sentence The wages of sin is death.
Perhaps the attraction towards the incorrectly singular verb is at its
m ost subtle w hen the verb is made to precede the subject.
On the evidence available there does not appear to be any legal grounds for
intervention.
In saying there does not appear, the w riter fails to anticipate that w hat
is to come is a plural noun, grounds. It may seem less natural to say
there do not appear, but that is w hat is needed to introduce any
grounds. And it is presumably out o f a desire not to sound too stilted
that a journalist writes:
Also in the redheads hall of fame is singer Belinda Carlisle and actresses
Shirley Maclaine and Julia Roberts.
Over-formal as it may sound to begin Also in the redheads hall o f fame
are . . ., that is the correct w ording.

Plural Terms in Singular Units

W here the subject of a verb contains a plural noun but nevertheless
represents a singular entity as a whole, the grammatical rule accords w ith
com m on sense. The m ost obvious instance is in the case of titles. W e say
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is one o f Shakespeares early plays. It w ould
be absurd to say The Two Gentlemen of Verona are one o f Shakespeares early
plays, making the verb plural because Two G entlem en are included in
the subject that governs it. But that represents the m atter very starkly.
Consider the following sentence about some ancient standing stones in
Cumbria.