number

   Errors of number-the failure to maintain agreement between the subject and verb in a sentence-are probably the most common grammatical fault in English and often the least excusable. In a language where so much is so complicated, the rule is gratifyingly simple: a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. As Bernstein says, anyone who can distinguish between one and more than one shouldn't find that too sophisticated a challenge. Yet errors abound-even, as we shall see, among those who should know better. Many of the causes of errors are treated separately throughout the book, but five in particular are worth noting here.

   1. Errors involving "and." When two nouns or pronouns joined by and form a compound subject, a plural verb is required. "Impatience and anger in political and editorial circles has been sharply mounting" (Los Angeles Times). Make it have.

   "She told the meeting that the disorder and despair of the Conservative Party was not self-evident" (Times). Make it were.

   The error is especially common when the normal subject-verb order is reversed, as here: "Why, you may ask, is correct speech and writing important, as long as the writing is clear?" (Simon, Paradigms Lost). Speech and writing are important.

   Simon might argue-indeed, he would have to-that speech and writing are so closely related that they form a single idea. When that is the case, a singular verb is unobjectionable. But such exceptions are better kept for things that are routinely combined-fish and chips, ham and eggs, law and order, the long and the short of it, etc.-and even then a plural verb would not be wrong.

   2. Errors involving "or." Whereas and draws diverse elements together, or keeps them separate. When all the elements are singular, the verb should be singular too. Thus this sentence is wrong: "A nod, wink, or even a discreet tug of the ear aren't [make it isn't] going to be the only sign language at the auction" (Observer). When all the elements are plural, the verb should be plural. When there is a mixture of singulars and plurals, the rule is to make the verb agree with the noun or pronoun nearest it. Consider: "No photographs or television footage have been transmitted from the fleet for almost a week" (New York Times). Because the nearest noun, footage, is singular, the verb should be has. Had the two nouns been reversed, have would have been correct.

   The need to maintain agreement can sometimes lead to awkward constructions, particularly with pronouns. "Is he or we wrong?" is grammatically perfect but perfectly awful. The solution would be to recast the sentence: "Is he wrong or are we?"

   A final point to note is that or influences not only the verb but also subsequent nouns and pronouns. In the following sentence the correct forms are given in brackets: "While Paris, Mexico City, Hong Kong, or Munich have [has] shown how their [its] underground systems [system] can become part of the pride of their [its] city . . ." (Observer). A better alternative with that sentence, however, would be to change the or to and and leave the rest of it as it is.

   3. Errors caused by failure to keep track of antecedents. Few people, it sometimes seems, have shorter attention spans than the average writer. All too often he or she will confidently set out with a plural or singular noun, become distracted by three or four intervening words, and finish with a verb of the opposite number. Such was the case in each of the following (the correct forms are given in brackets): "Bank mortgages, which now account for most expensive property, is [are] not included in the figures" (Times); "The pressure of living and working on board 24 hours a day have [has] led to some strained relationships" (Observer); "The incident demonstrates the reluctance with which some requests for interviews with ministers and senior officials is [are] met" (Times).

   Occasionally the writer does not even have the excuse of intervening matter: "Meet Allan and Sondra Gotlieb, whose official titles may cause glazed looks but whose frankness have made them among the most popular, and unusual, diplomats in Washington" (New York Times). Frankness have}

   And sometimes the intervening matter is so clearly unconnected with the main clause that the error is startling-all the more so when it is committed by as careful a user as Philip Howard: "Populist (and its generic class of politics, populism) have recently been adopted as vogue words in British politics" (from New Words for Old). Make it "has recently been adopted as a vogue word." (For a discussion, see parentheses)

   4. Errors involving personal pronouns. This is a common type and one that points up the inadequacies both of English and of those who use it. Consider: "If someone is learning a language for their job . . ." (Financial Times). The problem is that the singular someone and singular is are being attached to the plural their. Grammatically it is equivalent to saying, "No one were there" or "They is studying French."

   The convention is to make the second pronoun his: "If someone is learning a language for his job . . ." The obvious shortcoming is that this slights women. To avoid offending either them or grammar, you could make it "his or her job," which is often cumbersome, or you could recast the sentence with a plural subject: "People who are learning a language for their job ..." I recommend recasting.

   Too strict an application of the rule can result in incongruities-a point that evidently occurred to Philip Howard when he wrote the following sentence in Words Fail Me: "Nobody pretends any more (if they ever did) that economics is an exact science." "If they ever did" is strictly incorrect, but to change it to "if he ever did" would unbalance the sense of the sentence. One way of preserving the grammar would be to make the subject plural: "Few people pretend any more . . ." Another would be to replace they with a singular pronoun: "Nobody pretends any more (if anyone ever did) that economics is an exact science." These solutions are not perhaps entirely satisfactory-but then neither, I think, is a grammatical error.

   Whichever tack you take, you should at least be consistent throughout the sentence. Here is one in which the writer went to some lengths to get the pronouns right before abruptly self-destructing just short of home: "Anyone who does confess to being a Sedaka fan does so with the guarded reluctance of one edging out of the closet, fearing he or she will be made immediate targets of fun" (Sunday Times). It should be "an immediate target of fun."

   5. Errors involving the word "number." There is frequent confusion over whether to use a plural or singular verb with the noun number. Both of the following examples come from the same issue of The Times. Both are wrong. "Mr. Isaacs said a substantial number of households was inhabited today not by the conventional family group, but by single tenants"; "A small, but increasing number of individuals is apparently buying secondhand British Rail coaches." There is an easy way out of the confusion. Always make it "The number was . . ." but "A number were . . ." The same rule applies to total.