Re: Myth of "One of.." 1. One of the X's that/who
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22 Sep 2015, 11:30
I have been toying with this for a long and I think I have understood the concept. Let me elaborate.
One of is always singular - In the broad manner.
Like
One of the apples has fallen down
One of the dogs is missing
One of the students has gone mad etc.
Now notice that at this point I am using plural nouns after one of the "students, dogs, apples etc...
Lets take another scenario
One of the teams has scored only 5 runs.
One of the groups is lost
Again here I am using plural collective noun - (group is a collective noun and groups is plural collective noun)
In a special case - if the group is identified to be plural in the sentence then one of the groups can become plural.
Ex -
one of the groups were Germans who have been always victorious.
In this case one of the groups has been identified as a "collective noun" which in this case is plural. We already know that collective noun can be plural or singular
Ex - The group are arguing among themselves about where to eat - Correct
The group is arguing among itself about where to eat - Illogical and Incorrect
The class have been told to put down their pencils - Correct
The class has been told to put down its pencils - Incorrect and illogical
Anyhow -
in the example above we know that
One of the groups were Germans who have always been victorious is CORRECT.
Here is a question:
Since 1989, after the Berlin Wall had been demolished, one of the most problematic ethnic groups in the
reunified Germany, in cultural and economic assimilation terms,were the former East Germans, who have had to acclimate to an entirely different political system.
A. after the Berlin Wall had been demolished, one of the most problematic ethnic groups in the reunified German, in
cultural and economic assimilation terms, were the former East Germans
B. after the Berlin Wall was demolished, one of the most problematic ethnic groups in the reunified Germany, in
cultural terms as well as those of economic assimilation, were the former East Germans - AS THOSE OF IS WRONG
C. when the Berlin Wall was demolished, one of the reunified Germany's most problematic ethnic groups, in terms
of cultural and economic assimilation, was the former East Germans - WHEN is WRONG
D. when the Berlin Wall was demolished, one of the most problematic ethnic groups in the reunified Germany, in
terms of cultural and economic assimilation, has been the former East Germans - WHEN IS WRONG
E. after the Berlin Wall had been demolished, one of the most problematic ethnic groups in the reunified Germany,
in both terms of cultural and economic assimilation, have been the former East Germans - As the WORD SINCE IS THERE SO we need have been.