Thursday, March 6, 2008

Grammar

This particular rant is in response to this article.

I can't get over the grammatical error of using the plural verb on the singular noun. How many Ferrari companies are there, if they must have the plural conjugation of verbs as their predicate? As far as I know, Ferrari IS ONE company, therefore needs a singular conjugation. If it was otherwise, wouldn't it be "Ferraris?"

For instance, Ferrari are not demanding, but Ferrari is demanding that he remove the badges. Similarly, the car giant are not demanding that he never modify one of their cars again, but the car giant is demanding that he never modify one of their cars again. This is because the simplified version of the subject is "giant" -a singular noun. You wouldn't say, "The giant are in the park picking apples" would you?

Or, is this simple, logical grammar rule only for American English? I suppose that would make sense from the people that have more silent "e's" than any other language or dialect. And, it would make sense from the people who wrap lamp posts in foam to protect the half-retarded, text-messaging citizens. For that matter, it makes sense from the country where even the cops have no guns. Sheesh!

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