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I'm in the process of proofing an article that's about to be published, but I have a doubt I can't seem to solve or figure out, any advice would be appreciated.

The sentence currently is as follows:

"The Crucifixion in manuscript A and in manuscript B does not appear to be based on the model followed in manuscript C"

I think the verb should actually be "do" rather than "does".

For I'm effectively implying the subject "Crucifixion" after and so I am really talking about two images of the Crucifixion: one in manuscript A the other in manuscript B. Can I do this? In other words, should I rather write:

1) "The Crucifixion in manuscript A and the Crucifixion in manuscript B do not seem to be based on the model followed in manuscript C"

or

2) "The Crucifixion in manuscript A and in manuscript B does not appear to be based on the model followed in manuscript C"

3) "The Crucifixion in manuscript A and in manuscript B do not appear to be based on the model followed in manuscript C"

Are 1, 2, and 3 all acceptable (though 2 is clearly a bit redundant)?

Thank you! Really can't get my head around this!!

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    "The Crucifixion account as found in both manuscript A and manuscript B does not appear to be derived from the same original as that found in manuscript C." or "The two Crucifixion accounts found in manuscript A and manuscript B do not appear to be derived from the same original as that found in manuscript C." // This assumes that your capitalisation is correct.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 11:07

1 Answer 1

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If you want to make explicit that you're talking about two separate crucifixions, one in manuscript A and one in manuscript B, then you can keep the subject-verb agreement by writing the subject in plural form. This is actually more clear to the reader, since the former structure seems to suggest that there is one crucifixion that is in both manuscripts.

The Crucifixions in manuscript A and in manuscript B do not appear to be based on the model followed in manuscript C

Otherwise, if you leave "Crucifixion" singular, you should have the verb tense match it. So of your choices, option 3 is not grammatical. Option 1 expresses what you want to express, but the example above carries the same meaning and avoids repeating the word twice.

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  • Capitalising 'crucifixion' shows that the most famous event is being referenced.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 11:09

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