Monthly Archives: April 2026

subject-verb disagreement

 

Backing Trump as he tries to rewrite the Constitution by executive fiat is much of the Republican Party and a collection of conservative legal scholars who rushed, in the wake of his decree, to try to give substance to the president’s thin, unpersuasive argument. Against Trump IS the weight of Supreme Court precedent, historical consensus and the plain words of the clause itself. – Jamelle Bouie, “The Birthright Con,” The New York Times, April 1, 2026

It should be: ARE the weight …

the subject of the sentence is comprised of three nouns: weight, conesnsus. and words.

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This should be elementary, but journalists and commentators in the media frequently ignore the rule. Sloppiness is one thing, but they obviously don’t even know it.

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   April 2026