4 Grammar Questions

[morton]

<p>1.) The time and the place for such a large event are subject to the approval of the mayor's office.</p>

<p>Answer: No error
My Question: The subject is plural, so how come the word "subject" in the sentence is not plural? Isn't this a comparison error?</p>

<p>2.) It was a Chinese American grower who finally succeeded with adapting the now familiar orange tree to the American climate. No error</p>

<p>Answer: B
My Question: How would we change "with adapting" correctly?</p>

<p>3.) Despite its cultural importance, the Daily Gazette lost 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920 and, by 1955, was losing as much as $200,000 a year. No error</p>

<p>Answer: B
My Question: Why is "lost" wrong? And why is "was losing" correct?</p>

<p>4.) Five years in the writing, her new book is both a response to her critics' mistrust with her earlier findings and an elaboration of her original thesis. No error</p>

<p>Answer: C
My Question: Why is it incorrect to write "with her earlier findings"?</p>

[JefferyJung]

<p>

1.) The time and the place for such a large event are subject to the approval of the mayor’s office.</p>

<p>Answer: No error
My Question: The subject is plural, so how come the word “subject” in the sentence is not plural? Isn’t this a comparison error?

</p>

<p>I think subject to the approval is just a common phrase that is said in English.
Anyway, in English, the verb agrees with the subject, not with the predicate. So you can have predicate nominatives whose nouns are singular while both the subject/verb are marked plural.</p>

[JefferyJung]

<p>

2.) It was a Chinese American grower who finally succeeded with adapting the now familiar orange tree to the American climate. No error</p>

<p>Answer: B
My Question: How would we change “with adapting” correctly?

</p>

<p>Succeeded in is the correct idiom.</p>

[JefferyJung]

<p>

3.) Despite its cultural importance, the Daily Gazette lost 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920 and, by 1955, was losing as much as $200,000 a year. No error</p>

<p>Answer: B
My Question: Why is “lost” wrong? And why is “was losing” correct?

</p>

<p>Lost should be had lost. (past perfect)
Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.
Check out this page for detailed explanation of past perfect.
[ENGLISH</a> PAGE - Past Perfect](<a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html]ENGLISH”>Past Perfect Tense | ENGLISH PAGE)</p>

<p>Also, “was losing” is past continuous.
[ENGLISH</a> PAGE - Past Continuous](<a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html]ENGLISH”>Past Continuous Tense | ENGLISH PAGE)</p>

<p>This website explains different tenses very well.</p>

[JefferyJung]

<p>

4.) Five years in the writing, her new book is both a response to her critics’ mistrust with her earlier findings and an elaboration of her original thesis. No error</p>

<p>Answer: C
My Question: Why is it incorrect to write “with her earlier findings”?

</p>

<p>I’m quoting crazybandit often for many of your questions! He really explains this well.

@crazybandit

mistrust is an action. you put “of” after an action in order to indicate something that is acted upon.</p>

<p>the killing of Jane —> Jane was killed
the mistrust of her findings –> the findings were mistrusted, or not trusted</p>

<p>in other words, knowing these phrases is not as simple, or rather, as difficult, as memorizing them. “of” is a preposition that has many definitions. you simply need to apply the correct definition by reasoning, not memorization

</p>

[QuantMech]

<p>To elaborate on the answer to question 1, given in post #2, in this case “subject” is used as an adjective, not a noun. The phrase “subject to” is equivalent in this context to “dependent upon.” So you don’t make it a plural noun.</p>