I am in a dire trouble, Plz. find me a novel solution to the following
Moscow and Beijing, which increasingly needsSaudi oil to fuel its economic growth, blocked attempts by the United Nations to impose harsher sanctions on Damascus
PLU. + V.-S
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Matching subjects and verbs sounds easy, but sometimes it can be confusing. One common source of confusion is a compound subject.
As we know from math, 1 + 1 = 2, which is plural. So if we take two subjects and join them with and or both…and, the compound subject is usually plural and takes a plural verb.
However, it sometimes happens that two subjects joined by and form a singular subject. How can that be? Well, here's one example:
Drinking and driving is dangerous.
When we say "drinking and driving," we are talking not about two separate activities but about two actions combined into a single activity. Together, the words drinking and driving form a single unit and so must take the singular verb is.
For ur example:
Moscow and Beijing, which increasingly needs Saudi oil
two singular nouns ( in the same unit ) take the SAME action. So, in this case we have to consider them as a singular noun.
The Taliban know we are leaving. The Americans and British know we are leaving. Obama and Cameron have to pretend that we're not, or that we are, but only if we really, really think we've won.
SING. W/O S
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We often use singular nouns that refer to groups of people (for example: team, government, committee) as if they .were plural. This is particularly true in English.
So, if we read your example .....it's so clear that Taliban are group of people NOT a single person .....so, for that reason, you should use the plural verb with this kind of nouns.
Making Subjects with Verbs Agree....... DEPENDS ON The
MEANING of the noun
So, you've to make this expression a RULE
Anti-rebel operations, part of a decades-long conflict, have already been put on hold in Kandhamal, officials said.
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Make sure if ( Indefinite ART, a) relates to conflict or decades
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May Allah give you (Success Key) success
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Look!! it's correct. Decades-long could be used as an adjective to describe something that lasted for several or many decades.
So, we've to use (a) with this adjective ..... coz ( decades) not a seperate word.
Here're more exmples:
The Cold War was a decades-long struggle for global supremacy that pitted the capitalist United States against the communist Soviet Union.
a decades-long violent conflict involving outlawed armed groups,
Best of Luck