"Howard Brazee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > On 30 Nov 2006 15:13:35 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ted MacNEIL) wrote: > > >>SAY 'THE NUMBER OF TRACKS IS' TRK > > > >UGH! > >Where's your grammar? > >Home. Baking cookies (or dropping them onto your PC). > > > > > >I can accept 'The number of tracks are'! Even for 1. > > > >I cannot accept 'IS'! > > > >I actually check for that exception when I SAY something. > > I couldn't disagree more. "The number is one" - not "The number > are one". Or "The number are five". > > Do you say "the population of the United States are 295,734,134"?
Well, now you hit a topic on the head, that I, as non-English, never was able to understand, not get a feel for: why you say: the police *are* i.s.o. the police *is*... as we do and lots of other languages. Also: the firebrigade *are*? Why not then: the population are? And even more strange is Elvis Costello's text: Oliver's army *are* on their way, Oliver's army *is* here to stay. (Unless this is incorrect Enghlish of course). Kees. ********************************************************************** For information, services and offers, please visit our web site: http://www.klm.com. This e-mail and any attachment may contain confidential and privileged material intended for the addressee only. If you are not the addressee, you are notified that no part of the e-mail or any attachment may be disclosed, copied or distributed, and that any other action related to this e-mail or attachment is strictly prohibited, and may be unlawful. If you have received this e-mail by error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, and delete this message. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV (KLM), its subsidiaries and/or its employees shall not be liable for the incorrect or incomplete transmission of this e-mail or any attachments, nor responsible for any delay in receipt. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (also known as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines) is registered in Amstelveen, The Netherlands, with registered number 33014286 ********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
