Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site bbncca.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!whuxle!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!linus!bbncca!keesan From: keesan@bbncca.ARPA (Morris Keesan) Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: Re: Singular/Plural - (nf) Message-ID: <582@bbncca.ARPA> Date: Wed, 15-Feb-84 18:12:39 EST Article-I.D.: bbncca.582 Posted: Wed Feb 15 18:12:39 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 17-Feb-84 02:34:09 EST References: <1578@pur-ee.UUCP> Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma. Lines: 29 ------------------------------ Yes, the sentence "The space shuttle was one of the topics which {was|were} discussed in class this week." is grammatically correct with either verb, and each verb forces a different parsing. There is a subtle(?) difference in the meaning of the two sentences. The sentence The space shuttle was one of the(topics which were discussed in class this week) says, "The space shuttle and other topics were discussed in class this week." The sentence The space shuttle was (one of the topics) which was discussed in class this week says, "The space was one of the topics. The space shuttle was discussed in class this week," but it does not say whether any other topics were discussed this week. The implication by omission is then that the speaker does not know how many topics were discussed. If it were known that the space shuttle was the only topic discussed, the sentence could be The space shuttle was the only one of the topics which was discussed in class this week. The decision as to which form is "correct" devolves to a decision as to what the intended meaning is. -- Morris M. Keesan {decvax,linus,wjh12,ima}!bbncca!keesan keesan @ BBN-UNIX.ARPA