What is correct: ‘Here is a bag and a pen’, or ‘here are a bag and a pen’?
This is a classic mongoose question—one of my favourite kind—so-called after the story of a South African farmer who, concerned about an influx of poisonous snakes on his land, tentatively agreed to a Ministry of Agriculture official’s suggestion that he adopt a mongoose, which is very adept at hunting snakes.The mongoose proved to be very effective—so much so, that his neighbour Adriaan wanted one, too. Since Adriaan’s land was bigger, he decided he needed more than one mongoose, but being unsure of the plural of mongoose (mongeese? mongooses? mongoosen?), he wrote the Ministry of Agriculture official as follows:Hello. I am Mr. Botha’s neighbour, and have a similar problem with snakes. Please send me a mongoose, too.P.S. Please send me another one after that.Logic might suggest that because a bag and a pen represent more than one item, one should say are.But language doesn’t work by logic—or at least, not that sort of logic. It works by what sounds right.The listener’s ear doesn’t ‘know’ that after a bag you’re going to mention another object, rendering it a plural proposition. It just knows that Here are a bag sounds wrong, while Here is a bag sounds right. The fact that you throw in another object after that makes no difference—as far as the ear is concerned, it’s just another singular.
Grab bag for the book "The Outsiders"?
hello! i'm having some trouble on my book report for the book "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton, maybe you can help. I have to create a "Grab Bag" for the book. I already made and decorated the bag for the book, I just have no clue what to put in it. Here's what I need: 2 Items describing the main character (Ponyboy) 2 Items describing the setting 3 Items for the plot (1 for rising action, 1 for climax, 1 for falling action)^ and 1 item for the conflict these items have to be actual items and can not be printed out, but I can sculpt them out of clay if necessary. Thanks so much!
Do you say Bookbag or Backpack?
I say backpack, but I wouldn't think it funny or unusual to hear someone say "bookbag." It's a completely legitimate term for that item.
How to remove chewing gum off of a child's book bag?
Some little brat put chewing gum on my son's book bag. and i can't see it but can feel it. and i can't put ice on it because the gum is not on a flat surface. it is on the edges. Any suggesstions???
Which is grammatically correct, "there is a book and a pen on the table" or "there are a book and a pen on the table"?
This is actually a really interesting question because it touches upon a feature of English.See, if you had flipped it around so the subject was a coordinate phrase, we wouldn't be in doubt at all."A book and a pen are lying on the table"and not"A book and a pen is lying on the table"If "book and a pen" had been a plural item like "pens", we also wouldn't be in doubt at all."There are pens on the table"and not"There is pens on the table"So the answer seems to somehow involve the coordination of singular items AND the position.The answer is, somewhat surprisingly for a lot of people, a feature called First Conjunct Agreement.It is barely ever relevant in English, because English verbs are lazy as heck. What seems to happen is that the verb is really lazy. It knows that "there" has no information at all. So it needs to reach forwards instead of checking where it usually checks (right before it). If it reaches something that's definitely plural, it says "Yep, plural". If it reaches a coordinate phrase where the first element is singular? It will in some languages have a tendency to say "Meh, good enough, let's just agree with the first guy."It's more obvious in other languages.
What are the contents of your school bag?
I have a lot of things in my bag, so it is so heavy. I will lay it out for you.This is my trusty school bag; a high sierra, had it for 4 years now.My personal, specially named pencil case and its contents. It is special to me because I can never find anything with my name on it, and the fact that my aunt got this specially made for me so many years ago is so sweet.For maths, I have a lot of things. Two alegebra textbooks, (kill me now) my normal math boo, and a bunch of study papers for my next math internal.Ah, my trusty chromebook. Had this baby for three years now, and aside from the fact it is soo slow, it still does the job. I do most of my work on here now.In this pile I have a lot of things.My folder, filled with past assignments.My inspiration book, helps me keep motivated and has some notes and quotes in it.The trusty pink file, filled with study notes for an upcoming Science Genetics exam.My 'lecture’ book, filled with work when we occasionally use pen and paper, and millions of notes from Science, Dance, and English.My refill, filled with random drawings and doodles from those especially boring classes. Oh, and work too, I promise.And on top of that, my trusty Harry Potter themed Homework book, where I recorded all work to do from each class.Here's a full look at that.Dance:Yoga pants for the cold (usually sport shorts in the warm)T-shirtStrapping tapeFoot undies, these depend on what type of dance we do.Break and lunchtimes I just have my lovely dented 7 year old water bottle, sandwich keeper, and deluxe mini lunchbox from New World Supermarket, fancy, amirite?Other things commonly found in the back hole of a school bag:RubbishHair Brush2–3 novelsRubbishRandom sheets of work or doodlesExtra socksDeodorantBroken UmbrellaRubbishHair tiesRandom pens/pencils from 500 BCSport shoesDid I mention Rubbish?Yeah, I always wonder why my bag is so heavy..
What do you do when a store says "no bags allowed, leave bag at counter"?
I am assuming they are talking about a tote bag, or if you were carrying more bags from another store, for example. Your handbag would be fine, of course.The person who is depending on public transportation, or depends on a ride and must carry their shopping around from store to store will have a problem with this. I wouldn’t want to leave my bags either.In this case, if you must shop here, keep valuables with you in your hand bag, and ask where they expect you to leave your shopping bags. For example at K-Mart they had a place behind the information desk for customers to use.It is so hard these days, it’s so you can’t trust anybody. But when I used to shop at K-Mart (that’s how long ago it was I had to check my bags) I felt comfortable that nobody would steal anything behind that information desk.Hope this helps.
My friend lost my math book, so do I still have to pay to replace it?
She should pay for it, even though she says she didn't lose it, it was in her possession when the book got lost so technically yes, she lost it. unless it was never in your bag to begin with. Ask her to pay for it. good luck.
What is correct to write: “did you take your bag” or “did you took your bag”?
Question: What is correct to write: “did you take your bag” or “did you took your bag”?Did you take your bag is correct. ‘Did’ already carried the past tense at the beginning of the sentence and the word ‘did’ is enough for the whole sentence to stay in the past tense.In other words, you need not put ‘take’ into the past tense because ‘did’ was enough to put the whole sentence in the past.Not too logical, I know, but that is, ‘English as she is spoke.’ (More correctly, English as it is spoken).Yes, well, I know there is nothing even faintly logical in my mother tongue, but I love it anyway!I could have answered this question with just one word, but the robot in Quora (which I have named Ebenezer), would have collapsed it because it would not have been long enough.Cheers m’dears (a bit of Cornish English there).