In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
When using the expression "one of ... ", the verb used is singular because it refers to a single object from a group of objects.
Examples:
One of the things that I learnt in school was there are just some people you can't stand.
One of the students insisted that I was wrong. It was funny because if I was* really wrong, why would only one student realise it? What about the others?
Observe the underlined verbs. The verbs used are singular while the subjects are plural subjects. As mentioned earlier, the verb is singular because when we use "one of ...", we are actually referring to a single subject and hence the singular verb.
See? I do update my blog.
Allah knows best.
*edited after comment by H
3 comments:
sani! here are some of my pet peeves when ppl use the language
1 'that's mean'. ppl say that when they really want to say 'that means' and it means such totally different thing!
2 ppl using the word 'somehow' indiscriminately. somehow this and somehow that
It was funny because if I were really wrong, why would only one student realise it?
- Should this not be 'was'? I'm not sure myself that's why I'm asking.
azza:
It really is mean when people use 'that's mean' when they should be using 'that means' instead. Hopefully we can correct them when we get the chance.
h:
I looked it up. It should be 'was' instead of 'were'. At least, that is how I interpret the rule.
According to http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/061.html
:
"Another traditional rule states that you are not supposed to use the subjunctive following verbs such as ask or wonder in if clauses that express indirect questions, even if the content of the question is presumed to be contrary to fact"
Thank you.
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