22
votes
Is or are in this context
Well, if you were curious what combined footballer-cricketer your friend liked, you would say "Who is".
If you were allowing that the favorite footballer and the favorite cricketer might be two ...
- 6,426
13
votes
Is or are in this context
As a native BrE speaker, "Who are your favourite footballer..." just sounds wrong, because "are" is plural and "footballer" is singular.
"Who is your favourite footballer and cricketer?" is a ...
- 3,559
11
votes
Should I include “as a” for every item in a list of jobs, or just the first item?
Both versions are syntactically fine, but idiomatically native speakers would tend to "delete" all "highly predictable" repetitions of as a in such contexts (or at the very least, delete repeated as).
...
- 68.6k
7
votes
Why must I use "following" instead of "next" when introducing a list?
If you say "next", it implies that there was also a "previous". You can't start a list with "next".
You can say
I would like to introduce our next guest,
but only if he's not the first guest.
...
- 3,113
6
votes
Accepted
"For example" and "such as"
When what you are listing is a verb or a verbal phrase, use the gerund form.
We all have many home-maintenance tasks, such as washing our clothes, cleaning the kitchen, and taking out the garbage.
- 5,126
6
votes
Accepted
Comma with OR in a verb list containing in an introductory phrase
The New York Times stylebook
"In general, do not use a comma before and or or in a series."
(quoted in wikipedia)
It is not the case that American English always uses an Oxford comma, ...
- 202k
5
votes
Is or are in this context
"Who" can either be singular or plural.
Who is your favourite footballer and cricketer? (Who is singular) - In this case is refers to one person. This gives a sense that the person you are speaking ...
- 24.9k
4
votes
Accepted
Connect three sentences and make a shorter sentence
Both sentences you suggested are correct, but the first is probably more "correct", as the repetition of the haves in the second is unnecessary because the haves are understood from the first action (...
- 88
4
votes
Accepted
How should I write a sentence that has multiple questions?
There is nothing really incorrect in your example.
People use that form all the time in different circumstances.
How was your vacation? Interesting? Fun? Good weather?
What's she like? Tall? Thin?...
- 66.1k
4
votes
How many "or" should be written in case of three or more choices?
You can drop the first repeated "or", unless you wish to keep the repetition for emphasis.
So while your second example is preferred, the first is also allowed.
- 2,436
4
votes
Accepted
Can an elliptical construction be used in a list?
To summarize the comments I had made under the question, the use of an elliptical construction for list items can be ambiguous.
Had I not read this question, I would not have interpreted the ...
- 36.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Is it grammatically correct to have full sentences in a list?
It is absolutely OK in English grammar to write what could be complete sentences as clauses joined with conjunctions. You might get into a debate about punctuation (comma always between each clause?), ...
- 2,627
4
votes
Accepted
How to enumerate, like "I have an extra class in the morning, noon and evening"
This is a tricky one, and native speakers of English would struggle to create a sentence that (1) has your intended meaning, (2) is unambiguous, and (3) sounds natural. Here's one example:
I have one ...
- 48.8k
4
votes
How to enumerate, like "I have an extra class in the morning, noon and evening"
For completeness, since @gotube's answer is already good, you also have the option of saying:
I have an extra class in the morning, one at noon, and another in the evening.
- 139
4
votes
How to enumerate, like "I have an extra class in the morning, noon and evening"
I agree that "native speakers of English would struggle to create a sentence that (1) has your intended meaning, (2) is unambiguous, and (3) sounds natural". That said, my knee-jerk ...
- 213
3
votes
Can we use more than one 'and' to connect the items in a list?
You usually only put "and" in front of the last one, yes, and replace redundant "ands" with commas. However, in some literary pieces, "ands" are used repeatedly for certain effects. In this case, I ...
- 41
3
votes
Do I need to add "the" into this sentence?
Let's start with your example. Part of what would make it sound "wrong" to add "the" to any one of the things you list is that it would break parallel structure unless you added it to all of them. ...
- 1,643
3
votes
Accepted
Using "among others" for a list of workplaces
The expression among others is mainly used about people, but it can also be used about things. Here are some examples:
The American longshore workers held work stoppages in relationship to South ...
- 59k
3
votes
Accepted
Plural or singular use in combination with a list
I think The mean value of A, B, and C is a single value (not several values like in your first sentence). For example:
The mean value of 1, 3, 5 is 3.
But when you say The mean values of A, B, and ...
- 4,274
3
votes
Accepted
Comma to end a series and set it off from the rest of a sentence
The sentence includes parenthetical nonessential information. You can parse it like this:
Salad Greens and herbs (xxx) shared one large plot . . .
To maintain this construction, you need to use a ...
- 36.3k
3
votes
Plural or singular in lists
I think you're right - A is the correct thing to say if there is are three boxes, one of each color. B only makes sense if there is one box and it is multicolored - maybe it could be interpreted the ...
- 8,677
3
votes
Accepted
Plural or singular in lists
Sentence B would mean that the is one box, colored red, green and blue (stripes perhaps). Sentence A means that there are multiple boxes. It does not indicate whether there is one of each color, or ...
- 40.9k
3
votes
Accepted
How do I write bullet lists?
Each of your example forms 1-4 would be acceptable, and so would other variations. I would use a colon on your numbers 1 and 4. I would use semi-colons on numbers 1 and 2, and probably start each item ...
- 40.9k
2
votes
Accepted
Concise travel directions for public transportation
If you use to, more context is necessary since both "Foo" and "Bar" are in the "to" direction.
To break down your instructions
Which bus to take
Take bus 123
Which direction to go
going ...
- 66.1k
2
votes
Accepted
Starting with verb in bullet list
Bulleted lists can contain anything. They don't need to be complete sentences, for example:
Mad
Bad
Dangerous to know
- 6,536
2
votes
Using "among others" for a list of workplaces
No, it doesn't. It's a perfectly good usage. There are lots of examples of "among others" used as you suggest found in the BYU Corpus. Here's one:
Mr. Easterbrook -- who writes for The New ...
2
votes
What is Proper Format for a Numbered List (Series) within a Sentence
This, like most questions about punctuation, capitalization, and spacing, is a matter of style. There is no single universally correct presentation, nor on when and how to punctuate preceding or ...
- 17.7k
2
votes
What is Proper Format for a Numbered List (Series) within a Sentence
I'm pretty sure that numbered list without hitting the return is not a really acceptable good thing per se.
However, I believe that is a common thing in academic papers, probably because there are ...
- 146
2
votes
Accepted
Articles of a bullet-pointed sentence?
This is almost certainly a matter of "house style" and not strictly of grammar. My own personal style has two forms where the list items contain more than a very simple term. One is where the list is ...
- 7,377
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