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As well as usage

SAGIRNAABBA

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20 Mar 2018, 09:41

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The principal as well as the teachers are/is in the meeting ... please which one is correct singular or plural

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SAGIRNAABBA

The principal as well as the teachers are/is in the meeting … please which one is correct singular or plural

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AS WELL AS
The principal as well as the teachers is in the meeting
the teachers as well as The principal are in the meeting

AND
The principal AND the teachers are in the meeting
the teachers AND The principal are in the meeting

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20 Mar 2018, 10:43

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HKD1710

Hey HKD1710 ,

I think you reversed the rule in the first one.

It should be

The principal as well as the teachers are in the meeting
the teachers as well as The principal is in the meeting

HKD1710

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20 Mar 2018, 11:12

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abhimahna

HKD1710

Hey HKD1710 ,

I think you reversed the rule in the first one.

It should be

The principal as well as the teachers are in the meeting
the teachers as well as The principal is in the meeting

Hi abhimahna,

I think what you're saying is correct in case of other compound subjects as mentioned below. Here is some explanation from Magoosh. Please correct me if i have misunderstood anything from it:

Additive phrases
There are many constructions that have a meaning similar to P and Q, but achieve this in the form [single noun] + [phrase]. For example,

a) P, as well as Q,
b) P, including Q,
c) P, in addition to Q,

In all of these, the phrase that follows P is called an additive phrase. An additive phrase is not part of the subject, but is simply a separate noun modifier modifying the subject. In all three of these, P alone is the subject, and if P is singular, the verb is singular.

Compound subjects: The OR rule
The rule for OR is a little trickier. These three constructions all follow the same rule for the OR pattern:

a) P or Q
b) either P or Q
c) neither P nor Q

What matters is only the number of the last term of the sequence. If there are two terms, then only the second term matters: if the second term is singular, the subject takes a singular verb; if the second term is plural, the subject takes a plural verb. Whether the first term is singular or plural doesn’t matter at all. Thus:

5) Either the President or the three senators are going to speak ….

6) Either the three senators or the President is going to speak …

7) Neither the CEO nor the members of the Board are responsible for …

8) Neither the members of the Board nor the CEO is responsible for …

All that matters is the number of the term closest to the verb: the number of the verb follows the number of this nearest term.

Source: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/compound- ... e-phrases/
Also from the post: https://gmatclub.com/forum/as-well-as-v ... l#p1725675

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20 Mar 2018, 11:21

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HKD1710

Yes HKD1710 ,

I completely agree to your point but my point here is additive phrase should always be preceded as well as followed by a comma. This isn't the case in the given sentence. So, I considered it similar to either X or Y.

I wonder what would be the real construction for such cases as I haven't encountered any such example before.

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17 Apr 2018, 17:19

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AS WELL AS is used where they both are companions
on the other hand
AND is used to signify the objects

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20 Apr 2018, 13:54

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SAGIRNAABBA

The principal as well as the teachers are/is in the meeting … please which one is correct singular or plural

Think of as well as as a phrase that begins a modifier. In your sentence, I've highlighted the modifier in green.

The principal, as well as the teachers, are/is in the meeting.

In every sentence, the subject and verb have to agree. When you look for the subject of a sentence, you ignore the modifiers. Just pretend they aren't there (for a moment) - the verb just has to agree with the subject itself, not the modifier(s). So, the subject of this sentence is the principal.

Since the principal is singular, the correct verb is is.

The principal, as well as the teachers, is in a meeting.

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08 May 2019, 13:46

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abhimahna

HKD1710

Hi ...

I think what you're saying is correct in case of other compound subjects as mentioned below. Here is some explanation from Magoosh. Please correct me if i have misunderstood anything from it:

Additive phrases
There are many constructions that have a meaning similar to P and Q, but achieve this in the form [single noun] + [phrase]. For example,

a) P, as well as Q,
b) P, including Q,
c) P, in addition to Q,

In all of these, the phrase that follows P is called an additive phrase. An additive phrase is not part of the subject, but is simply a separate noun modifier modifying the subject. In all three of these, P alone is the subject, and if P is singular, the verb is singular.

Compound subjects: The OR rule
The rule for OR is a little trickier. These three constructions all follow the same rule for the OR pattern:

a) P or Q
b) either P or Q
c) neither P nor Q

What matters is only the number of the last term of the sequence. If there are two terms, then only the second term matters: if the second term is singular, the subject takes a singular verb; if the second term is plural, the subject takes a plural verb. Whether the first term is singular or plural doesn’t matter at all. Thus:

5) Either the President or the three senators are going to speak ….

6) Either the three senators or the President is going to speak …

7) Neither the CEO nor the members of the Board are responsible for …

8) Neither the members of the Board nor the CEO is responsible for …

All that matters is the number of the term closest to the verb: the number of the verb follows the number of this nearest term.

...

Some confusion here. All in all, HKD1710's initial post was correct with its examples.

Generally, additive phrases are parenthetical, but not always. What leads a phrase or clause to be parenthetical is if it is non-essential, also known as non-restrictive.
Note that the use of 'as well as' need not be non-essential and therefore parenthetical. I find it easier to think of such examples when I use 'besides' instead.

Note also that a dependent clause is not same thing as a non-essential clause; though the two are NOT mutually exclusive.

In this case, it may well be best to use commas. Regardless, 'as well as' is a conjunction somewhere in between the likes of a subordinating conjunction and an adverbial conjunction that creates a dependent clause or phrase. As such, it can be moved to the beginning of the sentence to see more clearly how it should be formed, just like other dependent clauses in a usual format. And so we see, it follows the rule HKD1710 stated of the verb following the subject in the main clause.

Many believe it is also fine to use 'as well as' in the form of 'and', as a coordinating conjunction. But even then, that would literally be following the 'and' rule that HKD1710 stated, with the multiple subjects automatically making a plural, rather than the 'or' rule.

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27 Jun 2023, 22:19

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