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Not native english speaker here. My comment is probably of very limited value, but mostly for my personal improvement :). When I read "the wrong kind of entre
by dudul 9y ago
Not native english speaker here. My comment is probably of very limited value, but mostly for my personal improvement :).
When I read "the wrong kind of entrepreneurs flourish in America" it surprises me to not see: "the wrong kind of entrepreneurs flourishes in America". I understand that "kind" should be the subject of the sentence, not the entrepreneurs. I have seen this construct several times (e.g. "this type of errors are very common", etc) and I'm wondering if it's correct, or simply one of these errors that are so common that they become the de facto rule.
- eric_h 9y agoYou are correct, "kind" is the subject of the sentence and the right conjugation would be "flourishes". You are also correct that it's a very common error that has generally just become acceptable.
- TimPC 9y ago"The wrong kind of entrepreneur flourishes in America" would probably be the better title. The article describes a single kind of behaviour. "The wrong kinds of entrepreneur flourish in America" would better describe an article where multiple kinds/distinct groups of behaviors were present.
- clamprecht 9y agoI think you're right. To me, the sentence should either be "the wrong kinds of entrepreneurs flourish..." or "the wrong kind of entrepreneur flourishes..." But this is a common error, and most people probably don't notice it. A related thing I've noticed is that in British English, they refer to companies as plural. For example: "Google are going to acquire company X", whereas in American English, you usually see: "Google is going to acquire company X."
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- germinalphrase 9y agoYou're correct. It would be better to say "entrepreneurs of the wrong kind flourish in America" - but that might sound odd or overly formal to everyday speakers. It's similar to the rule about ending your sentence in a preposition. It's incorrect, but it also sounds more natural in many instances.
- marcosdumay 9y agoOut of curiosity, are you native to an western language? I think this kind of inversion is common on Latin languages too.
- dudul 9y agoI'm a native latin language speaker indeed. I've seen this type of inversion in the past true, but not as frequently as I hear/read them in English.
- wott 9y agoBoth constructs are now allowed in French. The singular follows more the grammar rule, the plural conveys more the meaning and is often a little bit more natural, so it got allowed.