Does the verb "improve" need "s" in this sentence? And is this sentence correct at all?
"The stability persists if not improve."
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Sign up to join this communityDoes the verb "improve" need "s" in this sentence? And is this sentence correct at all?
"The stability persists if not improve."
It does need 's,' because the verb "improves" describes the singular noun "stability". It would also be advisable to add a comma for clarity.
The stability persists, if not improves.
This sentence is acceptable, but awkward in construction; a native speaker might say it, but it wouldn't be good writing. Note that the only reason the sentence works at all is that the idiom "if not" cannot be broken up or rephrased: according to the usual rules of grammar, the sentence must be "The stability persists if it doesn't improve," but this carries a different meaning. A construction that requires rules to be broken in order to make sense is less than ideal, so it would be better to find a different way to say it.
I'd give a suggestion, but unfortunately there is no particularly better way to say exactly the same thing without having further context.