Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Frisardi
I turn to the Sphere’s collective know-how once again to solve a grammar question.
In a translation I’m workshopping now, there is this phrase:
To sigh my anguish and to cry my ache
consume my heart . . .
Should the verb “consume” be singular or plural?
There are differing opinions about it in the translation thread, some saying “to sigh” and “to cry” are separate actions that should not be treated as a unit, others saying that it is a single action made up of two elements.
My “instinct” would be to use the singular there, but that could just be my lousy education.
Does anyone know if there’s a proper grammatical rule for this sort of thing?
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Andrew,
I don't know what the rule is here, but I can tell you that if "consume" is meant to be immediately and clearly recognized by the reader as a verb whose subject is the previous line, as opposed to a third verb in a list, "consumes" works better. Essentially, it sounds better. IMO.
David R.