Monday, June 22, 2015

grammar - Mixed person subjects and verb agreement

Please consider this sentence.





  1. "Not for as long as I or Patricia Smith live will you be allowed to forget that."



In this sentence, I've chosen to write live as I believe it is more correct as it agrees with the speaker, I. But try this.




  1. "Not for as long as I or Patricia Smith lives will you be allowed to forget that."




Now lives agrees with Patricia Smith and sounds much more natural as it agrees with the subject immediately in front of it.



The sentence is to be used in dialogue and cannot be rearranged as it is precisely what the speaker wants to say. Can anyone throw any light on which would be considered the correct grammar, or whether you agree that the second option is wrong, but sounds right so run with it.

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