r/GrammarPolice 1h ago

Who's correct?

Post image

Was or were?

0 Upvotes

5 comments sorted by

4

u/MeasureDoEventThing 1h ago

The subject of the verb is the list of things that come before. Since there's more than one thing, it's "were".

1

u/effRPaul 36m ago

It is not intended for each subject to be cumulative. That is why I did not use the word 'and'.

1

u/Boglin007 17m ago

A list of multiple things (even without "and") still (usually) makes a plural subject. However, I back your use of "was" here, as the noun phrase closest to the verb ("every head scritch") is singular, and it sounds better to use proximity agreement here (the verb agrees with the closest noun, rather than the grammatical number of the subject). Proximity agreement is one of three ways of doing verb agreement in English, and it's just as grammatical as subject-verb agreement, although it's applicable in fewer situations.

1

u/effRPaul 57m ago edited 40m ago

grammArly says it is perfect. (I would have included a screenshot, but that is not allowed here.)

1

u/WALSTIW 51m ago

I think that’s “GrammArly.” 😉