Saturday Nation
Date: 16.07.2016
Page 16
Article size: 217 cm2
ColumnCM: 48.22
AVE: 98855.55
MARK MY WORD
How to tame verbs
that are singular
in form but
plural in content
C
onsider the following
ise something which is already plural. Yet there is
sentence on page 12
nothing necessarily wrong with that. For instance,
although a nation is already a plurality of human
of The Sunday Stand­
ard of July lo: "A couple at
Kiamunyeki farm, Lanet in
Nakuru county is in shock
after their three­month­old
baby was allegedly stolen by
a neighbour..."
I would insert a comma
after the word county to
separate the main idea from
what is but parenthetical
information (what German
beings, we must pluralise the word nation itself
whenever we refer to more than one nation — to, for
instance, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
We must say nations whenever we mean a plurality
of what is already a plurality. Uganda is a nation be­
cause, among other things, it is a plurality of human
beings. Kenya is a nation for the very same reason.
Thus here we have two pluralities of what are already
pluralities. That is why you must add an "s" to the
word couple to indicate that at least four individuals
are involved, namely, two couples.
grammarians would dismiss Ambiguities
as a nebensatz — a "neigh­
The question facing us, then, is this: What gram­
bouring sentence"). The
point is that, although, here, matical number — singular or plural — should your
the word "couple" is singular verb take whenever it is controlled by a noun
in form, it is actually plural
in content because what it
refers to are two individuals.
That is the question with
which a reporter and sub­
although singular in form, is plural in content? The
English language has a myriad of such examples,
namely, those which are singular in form but
tically plural.
Such substantives include century, couple, herd,
editor of The Standard group myriad itself, multitude, pair, score and twain. Let
reiterate it. In form, the word couple is singular.
confronted us when they
used the singular verb is
("the couple is in shock")
in content, it may also represent the plurality of
least two persons — like the couple who got
but went on to inform us
in your church the other day.
English and other languages have countless
lexical ambiguities, and the learner must make
every effort to tame all of them. To couple is to
together two ideas, items or people — as what a
Christian or Muslim priest does whenever he
man and a woman into a conjugal formality.
A coupling of that kind also takes place when,
instance, Raila Amolo Odinga's party signs a
that the baby was "theirs"
(plural). The question was
complicated by the fact that,
although the word couple is
singular in form, it is actu­
ally plural in content.
That is clear for all and
sundry to see. For what
you actually do whenever
you add an "s" to the noun
"couple" is that you plural­
with William Samoei Ruto's own or when — as
pened only the other day — official Kenya signs
political treaty with official Israel.
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
Saturday Nation
Date: 16.07.2016
Page 16
Article size: 217 cm2
ColumnCM: 48.22
AVE: 98855.55
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya