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Old 06-17-2010, 02:18 PM   #31
squirell nutkin
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But seriously, you can change the order of the words to make it sound better:
The affidavits were the only evidence
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Old 06-17-2010, 02:19 PM   #32
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Yeah, I think so. when in doubt, re-word!
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Old 06-17-2010, 02:28 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by squirell nutkin View Post
But seriously, you can change the order of the words to make it sound better:
The affidavits were the only evidence
That's true when you take the sentence out of context. Having not read the document I don't know if the context is important here, but perhaps the writer wants to emphasize the word "evidence" and not "affidavits."
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Old 06-17-2010, 02:42 PM   #34
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that's also a valid point
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Old 06-17-2010, 03:28 PM   #35
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"The only evidence were the affidavits."

"The only thing in evidence were the affidavits."
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Old 06-17-2010, 03:38 PM   #36
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Ooh, good point Vana.
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Old 06-17-2010, 03:40 PM   #37
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hmm; don't see any difference, or clarification in that. It won't work in context anyway, for our purposes.
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Old 06-17-2010, 10:17 PM   #38
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I disagree with all of you - it should be is.
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Old 06-18-2010, 07:07 AM   #39
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I remember the first time I was taught that "The group was shown round the castle" was correct. It sounded SO wrong to me.
Same with learning that "you and I" was not always correct, or that "too" can mean excessive as well as also and the letter H is properly pronounced "aitch".

It's all second nature now, but it's funny to remember how outraged I was at the time.

Interesting post and answers btw.
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Old 06-18-2010, 08:20 AM   #40
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My brother asked me about the 'you and I/you and me' thing. I told him whatever works alone is what you use.

You and I went to the movies. (I went to the movies.)

It doesn't matter to you and me. (It doesn't matter to me.)


I hear it misused by some fairly intelligent folks.
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Old 06-18-2010, 09:12 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud View Post
you think "evidence' is plural?
The phrase, 'the only evidence' is not the subject of the sentence, it is a subject complement and is describing affidavits. It is actually a predicate adjective.
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Old 06-18-2010, 09:41 AM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pico and ME View Post
The phrase, 'the only evidence' is not the subject of the sentence, it is a subject complement and is describing affidavits. It is actually a predicate adjective.
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Old 06-18-2010, 10:26 AM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nirvana View Post
"The only evidence were the affidavits."

"The only thing in evidence were the affidavits."
"The only things in evidence were the affidavits." Don't plurals have to agree?

And in other news...
Pico just got 900 hotness points for being a parsing ninja
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Old 06-18-2010, 02:29 PM   #44
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I changed it once and changed it back. I was going for a modifier using evidence as an adjective


>pitches college English course grades. . .
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Old 06-18-2010, 10:15 PM   #45
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You sly devil!
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