Confusion in was and were: The diameter length of X,Y,Z was/were 4,5,6 respectively
I am confused with the usage of was vs were in the following sentence:
The length of diameter of three plates X, Y, Z was/were 4, 5, 6 respectively.
I am not sure which one is correct: was or were.
Should it be "was" since it's referring to diameter?
grammar verb-agreement
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I am confused with the usage of was vs were in the following sentence:
The length of diameter of three plates X, Y, Z was/were 4, 5, 6 respectively.
I am not sure which one is correct: was or were.
Should it be "was" since it's referring to diameter?
grammar verb-agreement
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
I'd rephrase to The diameter lengths of three plates X, Y, Z were 4, 5, 6 respectively, where it seems pretty clear-cut that we'd naturally use the plural form.
– FumbleFingers
Mar 20 at 15:49
1
Welcome to ELU. You might find English Language Learners more suited to questions like this. I don't think you need to include "length" at all. The sentence could be phrased "The diameters of the three plates X,Y,Z were 4,5,6 respectively." Your difficulty is because you've used "length of diameter", which is singular, but you have three values (plural).
– Pam
Mar 20 at 15:49
Toss out "lengths" entirely. "The diameters of the three plates X, Y, and Z were 4, 5, and 6, respectively."
– Hot Licks
Mar 20 at 17:01
add a comment |
I am confused with the usage of was vs were in the following sentence:
The length of diameter of three plates X, Y, Z was/were 4, 5, 6 respectively.
I am not sure which one is correct: was or were.
Should it be "was" since it's referring to diameter?
grammar verb-agreement
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I am confused with the usage of was vs were in the following sentence:
The length of diameter of three plates X, Y, Z was/were 4, 5, 6 respectively.
I am not sure which one is correct: was or were.
Should it be "was" since it's referring to diameter?
grammar verb-agreement
grammar verb-agreement
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
asked Mar 20 at 15:38
hi15hi15
1011
1011
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
hi15 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
I'd rephrase to The diameter lengths of three plates X, Y, Z were 4, 5, 6 respectively, where it seems pretty clear-cut that we'd naturally use the plural form.
– FumbleFingers
Mar 20 at 15:49
1
Welcome to ELU. You might find English Language Learners more suited to questions like this. I don't think you need to include "length" at all. The sentence could be phrased "The diameters of the three plates X,Y,Z were 4,5,6 respectively." Your difficulty is because you've used "length of diameter", which is singular, but you have three values (plural).
– Pam
Mar 20 at 15:49
Toss out "lengths" entirely. "The diameters of the three plates X, Y, and Z were 4, 5, and 6, respectively."
– Hot Licks
Mar 20 at 17:01
add a comment |
2
I'd rephrase to The diameter lengths of three plates X, Y, Z were 4, 5, 6 respectively, where it seems pretty clear-cut that we'd naturally use the plural form.
– FumbleFingers
Mar 20 at 15:49
1
Welcome to ELU. You might find English Language Learners more suited to questions like this. I don't think you need to include "length" at all. The sentence could be phrased "The diameters of the three plates X,Y,Z were 4,5,6 respectively." Your difficulty is because you've used "length of diameter", which is singular, but you have three values (plural).
– Pam
Mar 20 at 15:49
Toss out "lengths" entirely. "The diameters of the three plates X, Y, and Z were 4, 5, and 6, respectively."
– Hot Licks
Mar 20 at 17:01
2
2
I'd rephrase to The diameter lengths of three plates X, Y, Z were 4, 5, 6 respectively, where it seems pretty clear-cut that we'd naturally use the plural form.
– FumbleFingers
Mar 20 at 15:49
I'd rephrase to The diameter lengths of three plates X, Y, Z were 4, 5, 6 respectively, where it seems pretty clear-cut that we'd naturally use the plural form.
– FumbleFingers
Mar 20 at 15:49
1
1
Welcome to ELU. You might find English Language Learners more suited to questions like this. I don't think you need to include "length" at all. The sentence could be phrased "The diameters of the three plates X,Y,Z were 4,5,6 respectively." Your difficulty is because you've used "length of diameter", which is singular, but you have three values (plural).
– Pam
Mar 20 at 15:49
Welcome to ELU. You might find English Language Learners more suited to questions like this. I don't think you need to include "length" at all. The sentence could be phrased "The diameters of the three plates X,Y,Z were 4,5,6 respectively." Your difficulty is because you've used "length of diameter", which is singular, but you have three values (plural).
– Pam
Mar 20 at 15:49
Toss out "lengths" entirely. "The diameters of the three plates X, Y, and Z were 4, 5, and 6, respectively."
– Hot Licks
Mar 20 at 17:01
Toss out "lengths" entirely. "The diameters of the three plates X, Y, and Z were 4, 5, and 6, respectively."
– Hot Licks
Mar 20 at 17:01
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
The sentence is constructed poorly, but the correct conjugation is "was" because the subject in the sentence is 'length', not 'diameter' nor 'plates'.
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
add a comment |
I guess that the sentence is the answer to question. So it is impossible to be sure sure whether the answer quoted is to a question, whose wording we do not have. But I should have said "The diameters of the three plates, X, Y and Z, were 4,5 and 6, respectively". The word 'length' is superfluous: a diameter is a length. Better still, "The three plates X,Y and Z **had diameters of 4,5 and 6, respectively.
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
hi15 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f490584%2fconfusion-in-was-and-were-the-diameter-length-of-x-y-z-was-were-4-5-6-respectiv%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
The sentence is constructed poorly, but the correct conjugation is "was" because the subject in the sentence is 'length', not 'diameter' nor 'plates'.
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
add a comment |
The sentence is constructed poorly, but the correct conjugation is "was" because the subject in the sentence is 'length', not 'diameter' nor 'plates'.
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
add a comment |
The sentence is constructed poorly, but the correct conjugation is "was" because the subject in the sentence is 'length', not 'diameter' nor 'plates'.
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
The sentence is constructed poorly, but the correct conjugation is "was" because the subject in the sentence is 'length', not 'diameter' nor 'plates'.
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
answered Mar 20 at 16:07
Samuel MartinSamuel Martin
11
11
add a comment |
add a comment |
I guess that the sentence is the answer to question. So it is impossible to be sure sure whether the answer quoted is to a question, whose wording we do not have. But I should have said "The diameters of the three plates, X, Y and Z, were 4,5 and 6, respectively". The word 'length' is superfluous: a diameter is a length. Better still, "The three plates X,Y and Z **had diameters of 4,5 and 6, respectively.
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
add a comment |
I guess that the sentence is the answer to question. So it is impossible to be sure sure whether the answer quoted is to a question, whose wording we do not have. But I should have said "The diameters of the three plates, X, Y and Z, were 4,5 and 6, respectively". The word 'length' is superfluous: a diameter is a length. Better still, "The three plates X,Y and Z **had diameters of 4,5 and 6, respectively.
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
add a comment |
I guess that the sentence is the answer to question. So it is impossible to be sure sure whether the answer quoted is to a question, whose wording we do not have. But I should have said "The diameters of the three plates, X, Y and Z, were 4,5 and 6, respectively". The word 'length' is superfluous: a diameter is a length. Better still, "The three plates X,Y and Z **had diameters of 4,5 and 6, respectively.
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
I guess that the sentence is the answer to question. So it is impossible to be sure sure whether the answer quoted is to a question, whose wording we do not have. But I should have said "The diameters of the three plates, X, Y and Z, were 4,5 and 6, respectively". The word 'length' is superfluous: a diameter is a length. Better still, "The three plates X,Y and Z **had diameters of 4,5 and 6, respectively.
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
answered Mar 20 at 17:09
TuffyTuffy
4,0561621
4,0561621
add a comment |
add a comment |
hi15 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
hi15 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
hi15 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
hi15 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f490584%2fconfusion-in-was-and-were-the-diameter-length-of-x-y-z-was-were-4-5-6-respectiv%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
I'd rephrase to The diameter lengths of three plates X, Y, Z were 4, 5, 6 respectively, where it seems pretty clear-cut that we'd naturally use the plural form.
– FumbleFingers
Mar 20 at 15:49
1
Welcome to ELU. You might find English Language Learners more suited to questions like this. I don't think you need to include "length" at all. The sentence could be phrased "The diameters of the three plates X,Y,Z were 4,5,6 respectively." Your difficulty is because you've used "length of diameter", which is singular, but you have three values (plural).
– Pam
Mar 20 at 15:49
Toss out "lengths" entirely. "The diameters of the three plates X, Y, and Z were 4, 5, and 6, respectively."
– Hot Licks
Mar 20 at 17:01