ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi) (02/08/84)
From: Mike Ciaraldi <ciaraldi> I don't know if this has made the rounds before, but here goes. This came up several years ago in the local paper, and they had fun
ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi) (02/08/84)
From: Mike Ciaraldi <ciaraldi> I don't know if this has made the rounds before, but he goes. This question came up in the local paper several years ago. The columnist had fun calling local English teachers and other experts at high schools and colleges. "The space shuttle was one of the topics which was discussed in class this week." vs. "The space shuttle was one of the topics which were discussed in class this week." The grammarians were almost evenly split. One had the presence on mind to say that you were better off saying "The space shuttle was one of the topics discussed..." Any comments? I know my vote between the two first choices. Mike Ciaraldi ciaraldi@rochester
neal@denelcor.UUCP (Neal Weidenhofer) (02/09/84)
************************************************************************** >"The space shuttle was one of the topics which was discussed > in class this week." > >vs. > >"The space shuttle was one of the topics which were discussed > in class this week." Try diagramming this one (Does anyone still learn to diagram??) shuttle | was \ one --------|----------- \T \s \o \h \p \f topics \e \a -------- \c \t | \e \h | which \e -------- | | | WERE discussed -----|--------------- \i \ week \n class ----- ------- \t \h \i \s A quick analysis also shows it: "Several topics WERE discussed in class this week. The space shuttle was only one of them." In fact, using WAS implies that there was only one topic discussed in class during the whole week. Regards, Neal Weidenhofer Denelcor, Inc. <hao|csu-cs|brl-bmd>!denelcor!neal
mcewan@uiucdcs.UUCP (mcewan ) (02/12/84)
#R:rocheste:-478000:uiucdcs:19000035:000:278 uiucdcs!mcewan Feb 10 13:21:00 1984 After thinking a second, it seems clear to me that "The space shuttle was one of the topics which were discussed in class this week." is correct, although if I were constructing the sentence I think I would be more likely to say "was". Scott McEwan uiucdcs!mcewan
rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (02/13/84)
Simple. "The space shuttle was one of [ the topics which were discussed in class this week ]." As opposed to: "The space shuttle was *A* topic which was discussed in class this week." Just feeling ornery... -- Pardon me for breathing... Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr
mcmillan@eosp1.UUCP (John McMillan) (02/13/84)
The space shuttle was one of the topics discussed in class this week. Why bother to say either "which were" or "which was"? Both are prolix and awkward. - Toby Robison allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison princeton!eosp1!robison (NOTE! NOT McMillan; Robison.)
saj@iuvax.UUCP (02/15/84)
#R:rocheste:-478000:iuvax:7100002:000:1210
iuvax!brennan Feb 12 21:02:00 1984
The sentence can be parsed (diagrammed) both ways, making either correct!
shuttle | was \ one
--------|--------------------
\T \s \o |
\h \p \f topics |
\e \a -------- |
\c \t |
\e \h | which
\e --------
|
| | WAS discussed
-----|---------------
\i \ week
\n class -----
------- \t
\h
\i
\s
> A quick analysis also shows it: "Several topics WERE discussed in class
> this week. The space shuttle was only one of them." In fact, using WAS
> implies that there was only one topic discussed in class during the whole
> week.
> Neal Weidenhofer
I disagree that using WAS implies only one topic was discussed during the
whole week. The word ONE implies that there were more topics.
Jeff Brennan ...!ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!brennankeesan@bbncca.ARPA (Morris Keesan) (02/16/84)
------------------------------
Yes, the sentence "The space shuttle was one of the topics which {was|were}
discussed in class this week." is grammatically correct with either verb, and
each verb forces a different parsing. There is a subtle(?) difference in the
meaning of the two sentences. The sentence
The space shuttle was one of the(topics which were discussed in class this week)
says, "The space shuttle and other topics were discussed in class this week."
The sentence
The space shuttle was (one of the topics) which was discussed in class this week
says, "The space was one of the topics. The space shuttle was discussed in
class this week," but it does not say whether any other topics were discussed
this week. The implication by omission is then that the speaker does not know
how many topics were discussed. If it were known that the space shuttle was
the only topic discussed, the sentence could be
The space shuttle was the only one of the topics which was discussed in class
this week.
The decision as to which form is "correct" devolves to a decision as to
what the intended meaning is.
--
Morris M. Keesan
{decvax,linus,wjh12,ima}!bbncca!keesan
keesan @ BBN-UNIX.ARPA