A series of programs ___ examining the issue of immigration policy.
Is? Are? Both, really: The series is examining, and so are the programs. But it's the series that we're really talking about, so is works better.
A series of explosions ____ rocked the city in the past week.
This one is easier: The explosions did the rocking, not the series, so make it have.
7 comments:
When in doubt
Leave it out
So long as the sentence
has the same clout
"A series of explosions rocked the city in the last week"
I know the luxury of omission isn't always there. The first example wouldn't work at all without the is or are decision being made. But sometimes, even in a moment of pre-coffee haze (like now), a simpler alternative can be found.
This will be its own entry at some point: Always assume that I'm dealing with what I'm dealing with, not looking to rewrite the example sentence I pulled out of my behind. Sorry to be rude, but it gets silly when I'm trying to debate the fine points of, say, "black" vs. "African-American" and the solutions are always "But why are so obsessed with race anyway?" and "Better to be specific, as in 'His great-great-grandfather was from Lagos, which was then the capital of Nigeria.'"
I agree with your rulings on these sentences. Here's a slightly different angle on how to think about this: In your first example, "series" refers to something planned and executed as a unit, so it's intuitive to think of it as singular. In the second, it refers to a sequence of possibly unrelated events, so plural makes more sense.
Well put, TT. Thanks.
Not a rude response, Sir, only gently admonishing. In my post-coffee state, I recognize that I wrote too soon and should have come back later and simply appreciated the point of the entry and its delivery as I do now.
I had some trouble with your second example until I tried replacing the word "series" with "lot" and "bunch."
I'm a currently a computer science student, but I'm considering changing my major to journalism. Your blog is an interesting read for a budding grammarian!
Bill:
What if it's the fact that it's a series of explosions, rather than an isolated incident, that's rocking the city?
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