> What you need to known is if the subject is syntactically singular or not. It's a bit broader IMHO. For instance, plurals are handled as singular based on th

> What you need to known is if the subject is syntactically singular or not. It's a bit broader IMHO. For instance, plurals are handled as singular based on the semantics, even in written language. I liked how different authors handled the Olympics in wikipedia for instance > The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event vs > The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; French: Jeux olympiques)[a][1] are the world's leading international sporting events. Same way a singular nouns will be handled as plurar if the speaker recognizes them as such ("The UN are planning a meeting") There will be arguments on whether these sentences are grammatically correct, but I'd be more for the descriptive approach than the prescriptive one, as at the end of the day usage wins. > attempts to model Japanese politeness markers I kinda feel for them as it's the most evolving part of the language IMO. As people get used to a level of politeness, it loses it's status and a stronger form becomes needed. Basically there's a politeness inflation happening through the years, and it's all based on how people perceive it, so logic is also not an element of it.