ghanashyam Posted September 29, 2013 Report Share Posted September 29, 2013 A boy and two girls ARE going to school.Two boys along with a girl are going to school.A boy along with two girls is going to school.Most of the time, people use ARE or IS as they wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgaz83 Posted September 29, 2013 Report Share Posted September 29, 2013 I think the last two sentences actually need commas for them to be correct: Two boys, along with a girl, are going to school. A boy, along with two girls, is going to school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraM Posted September 29, 2013 Report Share Posted September 29, 2013 I think the last two sentences actually need commas for them to be correct: Two boys, along with a girl, are going to school. A boy, along with two girls, is going to school.Yes, those last sentences do need commas. The third sentence is a singular subject -- "a boy" -- and it's modified with that descriptive clause-- "along with two girls" -- so it takes a singular verb "is." That way you have subject-verb agreement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayitwell Posted October 1, 2013 Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 I think the last two sentences actually need commas for them to be correct: Two boys, along with a girl, are going to school. A boy, along with two girls, is going to school.yes, but that was not the point of the original poster. i agree with his point which is that most people choose between "is" and "are" as they see fit without considering which of the two is grammatically correct. i do it myself sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghanashyam Posted October 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2013 Yes, those last sentences do need commas. The third sentence is a singular subject -- "a boy" -- and it's modified with that descriptive clause-- "along with two girls" -- so it takes a singular verb "is." That way you have subject-verb agreement.Thanks for the correction. I, myself,Insist on correct construction of sentences, agreement of subject and verb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABL Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Grammar is so important to me! I try so hard to get it right. And yet I see people do it wrong all the time. It bugs me!!! This is a prime example- is and are. It may be hard to learn, but it's so necessary!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandandesign Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 You're right! Most of us don't know about this because some people don't pay attention to the subject and tense. I don't think your last sentence need a comma to make the sentence sound right. I do see if the subject, which is the third person, is single, then IS will be used as the verb tense.A boy along with two girls IS going to school. That's grammatically acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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