1 Out of 2 “Are,” or 1 Out of 2 “Is”?

Which is correct: “1 out of 2 people are,” or “1 out of 2 people is”?

Here’s the answer from Colleen Newvine, the product manager of the A.P. Stylebook:

There often are gray areas with no absolute right or wrong (or at least, strongly divided opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong). These fall in that category.

Either can be OK. Some very formal approaches to grammar argue that “1” is the subject and thus the verb should be singular. But many grammar experts emphasize what’s called notional agreement: When the agreement between a subject and a verb is determined by meaning rather than formal grammatical rules.

In this example, I’d say that clearly the meaning is plural. I’d write “1 out of 2 people are.”

Gerunds Take the Possessive

Which sentence is correct?

1. Our withdrawal depends on Turkey pledging not to attack the Kurds.

2. Our withdrawal depends on Turkey’s pledging not to attack the Kurds.

#2 is correct, for a simple reason: Because gerunds (in this case, Turkey) take the possessive.

Similarly, which of these sentences is correct?

1. I appreciate you taking time to talk with me.

2. I appreciate your taking time to talk with me.

Again, #2 is correct, for a simple reason: Because gerunds (in this case, taking) take the possessive.

Addendum (2/13/25): Here are a few more examples from the Wall Street Journal:

1. It’s hard to argue with the numbers that point to consumers continuing to spend in the aggregate.

2. It’s hard to argue with the numbers that point to consumers’ continuing to spend in the aggregate.

Once again, #2 is correct: Gerunds (a verb form that functions as a noun, ending in “-ing”) call for possessives in a noun preceding them.

1. These strategies led to the company inflating Trump’s personal net worth on financial statements.

2. These strategies led to the company’s inflating Trump’s personal net worth on financial statements.

1. They celebrated Smith winning the election.

2. They celebrated Smith’s winning the election.

The bottom line: Use the possessive before a gerund.

insist. insists

Wrong
I’m one of those people who insists on correctness.

Right
I’m one of those people who insist on correctness.

You’ve Been Making This Grammatical Mistake Your Whole Life Without Realizing It

Here’s the sentence:

“I’m one of those lucky people whose job is an extension of his hobby.”

What’s wrong with it?

Nothing, at least upon first reading.

But as my colleague and brilliant wordsmith, Paul Stregevsky, patiently explained to me, the sentence should be,

“I’m one of those lucky people whose jobs are extensions of their hobbies.”

Huh? (If you have that same reaction, rest assured, you’re in good company.)

Take it away, Paul:

Consider these two sentences, if they were uttered by Melania Trump:

1. I’m one of those women who sometimes wants to murder my husband. (Not grammatical.)

2. I’m one of those women who sometimes want to murder their husbands. (Grammatical.)

3. I’m one of those women who sometimes wants to murder her husband. (Not grammatical.)

4. I’m one of those women who sometimes want to murder my husband. (Grammatical.)

Mind you, sentence 1 is not grammatical. But let’s imagine it were. Do you understand why sentence 1 means something radically different from the meaning she intended?

Sentence 1, if it were grammatical, would have to mean, “Like many women, I sometimes want to murder Donald Trump.” And that's not what you intended, is it?

Sentence 2 means, “Many women sometimes want to murder their own husbands. I, do, too.”

Sentence 3 is a blend of the two: It’s faithful to the grammatical number of sentence 1 and the grammatical person intended by sentence 2. In effect, it splits the difference. But it, too, would be grammatically wrong.

Let’s try it again, with a more perverted scenario:

Sentence 1: I’m one of those dads who sometimes imagines banging my daughter.

Sentence 2: I’m one of those dads who sometimes imagines banging their daughters.

In sentence 1, are you trying to say that many dads want to bang your daughter? Because that’s what it must mean.

Here’s another example:

“I’m a change agent who rolls up my sleeves to get things done.”

Grammatically, the sentence should be this:

“I’m a change agent who rolls up his sleeves to get things done.”

Again, here’s Paul:

Well, what a coincidence: I, too, am a change agent who rolls up Jonathan Rick’s sleeves to get things done.

At least, that’s what your wording suggests is possible.

The singular vs. plural choice is merely an artifact of the first-person vs. third-person choice. Once we establish that the grammatical number is driven by whatever agent is doing the rolling up (people), we must follow through and complete the sentence in the same grammatical person (third/he).

In other words: The pronoun must be third-person (“her sleeves”), not first (“my sleeves”).

Addendum (2/15/2024): Paul just wrote about this issue on LinkedIn:

“‘But,’ you protest, ‘doesn’t ‘one of’ make the verb singular?’ No. As Garner’s explains, ‘After the who or that, the verb should be plural because who or that is the subject, and it takes its number from the plural noun to which who or that refers.’ So strongly did Garner oppose this common practice that he devoted a blog post to explaining why.”

Addendum (8/5/2024): In Simple & Direct, Jacques Barzun observes:

“The careless writer will set down: ‘He is one of those golf players who is always giving excuses for his bad shots.’ He writes in effect: ‘gold players who is,’ which he quite incapable of saying in person. This error is no infrequent event. You will find it in thousands of articles and books, and you will hear it in every other conversation and broadcast.”

How a Comma Killed Tiffany Trump

In a recent tweet, our new president wrote:

At 9:00 P.M. @CNN, of all places, is doing a Special Report on my daughter, Ivanka. Considering it is CNN, can't imagine it will be great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017

Sadly, Trump knows nothing about grammar. If he did, he’d have written:

“My daughter Ivanka” (without the comma).

Why?

Because “My daughter Ivanka” means he has multiple daughters, whereas “My daughter, Ivanka” means he has only one. (He has two daughters; the other is Tiffany.)

Commas can kill.

Here’s another example:

“If you’re like to meet my friend, Susan, please join us for dinner.”

means I have only one friend.

Whereas:

“If you’d like to meet my friend Susan, please join for us dinner.”

means Susan is one of my friends.

See also “When to Use a Comma Before Someone’s Name.”

Is This a Dangling Modifier?

I recently asked language expert Paul Stregevsky the following question:

Q: Press critic Jack Shafer recently wrote, “Grown fond of Kelly in the evening, will they really switch to Kelly in the afternoon?”

I completely understand what Shafer is saying, but, from a strict grammatical viewpoint, isn’t this an example of a dangling modifier? Shouldn’t the first word after the comma refer to the viewers — something like this:

“Grown fond of Kelly in the evening, they may not readily switch to Kelly in the afternoon.”

A: ​I have asked myself this question many times! Without consulting Garner, I would say that the answer is this:

Technically, it is not a dangling modifier​ because “they” is the grammatical subject.

But, to a careful reader, this construction can disrupt expectations in the same way as a dangling modifier! It looks like a dangler and reads like a dangler.

It’s better avoided. But personally, I would probably use it, then smugly defend it when challenged. :)

Why You Should Ignore the Rule to Never End a Sentence With a Preposition