Deep in the Doo-Doo (or is it Does-Does?)

[Mr. E]

Which is correct:

"John Smith is one of those who does the fighting."

OR

"John Smith is one of those who do the fighting."

?? Microsoft Word suggests the second, but I'm not convinced.

[TerzaRima]

Microsoft Word is right.

[Mr. E]

Microsoft Word is right.

So the agreement should be with "those" instead of "one."

I don't know why, but it totally threw me for a loop.

Thanks!

[Maryn]

Which is correct:

"John Smith is one of those who does the fighting."

OR

"John Smith is one of those who do the fighting."

?? Microsoft Word suggests the second, but I'm not convinced.

Deconstruct. Forget Smith for a while and break the sentence into its parts.

John Smith is the subject. Two points!

Is is the verb. We're on a roll here.

one of those who do/does the fighting is the direct object phrase. It consists of the direct object, one, and a prepositional phrase, of those who do/does the fighting. The preposition is of, of course.

Now, looking at just the prepositional phrase, which is correct? Is it those who does the fighting or those who do the fighting

Microsoft Word has it. I hate to admit that, but I agree.

Maryn, hoping this made sense

[IceCreamEmpress]

Who does the fighting? The soldiers do the fighting.

Is John Smith one of them? Yes, John Smith is one of those who do the fighting.