when extremely simple things are challenging you!
Hello,
Today I’ve been confused by these two senences which are looked very simple though they’re against about what I’ve been studying as an English!
The first one is:
A: Pour plain soda on it. Soda is the best thing. I’ve seen it work.
B: Ok. i’ll try it.
As you can see, “it work”. I think It might have been “it works”.
The second one is:
I think Globe Air are pretty good. You can state your preference for a special low fat menu, or sea food.
As you can see the writer use “are” for the company’s name instead of “is”. Is it a grammatical rule in which we need to use “is” for companies or brands? Or it might have mentioned all staff and services that the company provides; In this case it looks ok, deosn’t it?
I came across them on Cambridge books, so the source is approved!
Highly thanks in advance.
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 12
3
This is one of the many nuances of the English language.
The first one is tough to explain so I will pass on that for now...
In your second example, both "is" and "are" are acceptable. It is merely the difference between British English and American English.
The Brits group company names collectively in what is known as a collective noun. Hence, plural form is acceptable.
Americans tend to use the singular form of the noun. Hence, the singular form is also acceptable.
3
"I've seen it work." means that the person has seen someone pour soda on a stain in the past and the stain has been successfully removed. The person could have also said "it works" or "I've seen it. It works." but "I've seen it works" is incorrect.
For the second one, I believe both are correct. In the UK, people tend to use "are" when referring to collective nouns. In North America they tend to use "is". I personally would say "Globe Air are good", because although it is a single entity, it is made up of numerous people, products and services.
1
"Work" in this case is an infinitive, so it's not conjugated. In this case it is a "zero" or "bare" infinitive (one not preceded by "to"), which is used after auxiliary verbs and verbs of perception, in this case "see", in the pattern verb (have seen) + object (it) + zero infinitive (work). http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/infinitive/
1
1) "I've seen it work" is correct. If you want to use "works", you need a full clause: "I've seen that it works."
We don't conjugate "work" because it's not the main verb here. It's simply the action that we see, and since "work" refers to the object (it), it actually makes no sense to conjugate it anyway. Keep the conjugation for the subject. :)
I know that's a slightly involved explanation, but that's how we approach it in regular English. There's no need to over-think it. There are a few other grammar forms where the verb does not conjugate after he/she/it (causative and subjunctive), so be aware of those.
2) Well, the matter here is whether you consider Globe Air to be a single entity (a company: it) or a collective of people (a group: they). The writer has decided Globe Air must be "they".
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