Did they use the comma properly in the following sentence? should not the verb be "destroy", not "destroys"?
This proliferation, and the resulting construction, destroys the habitats of many animals like the spotted turtle.
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2 Answers
The example sentence was written correctly. The commas are setting off a parenthetical phrase. If you remove the clause, you have:
This proliferation destroys the habitats...
The reason the verb is "destroys" is because "proliferation" is a singular noun. The verb agrees with the subject, and the parenthetical phrase (, and the resulting construction,) doesn't change that.
The subject is "proliferation" so the verb is third person singular "destroys".
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Also, the nonessential information (and the resulting construction) is referred to as an appositive. Commented Apr 23, 2018 at 6:07
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@JasonBassford, THANK YOU! I was banging my head on my screen trying to remember "appositive." Cheers!– JBHCommented Apr 23, 2018 at 6:10
I will answer your question in two parts.
First, the commas. The commas are used correctly in this sentence. The part of the sentence that has '...,and the resulting construction,...' is called a non-essential element. A non-essential element is a part of a sentence that is not needed for it to make sense and is encapsulated in commas.
The sentence still makes sense even without the non-essential element.
This proliferation destroys the habitats of many animals like the spotted turtle.
Second, destroy or destroys.
Destroys is the correct word to use in this instance. As a native speaker, these choices are intuitive. The s on the end of the word indicates that the verb is done by someone or thing. This changes, however, if the noun beforehand is plural or there is more than one subject.
Example John plays football People play football John's teachers play football John's teacher plays football John and Luke play
Luke destroys the death star! The smart bombs destroy the death star!
