genre of investors explain or explains

jaus tail said:

Hi,

i was giving this online test for grammar and came across this line. the second genre of investors explains...

i pointed out that it should be 'explain' since you'd use:
a herd of gazelle crosses the river, of flock of birds fly. so you should have 'explain' for 'genre'

Am I wrong? Any explanation is appreciated...

Click to expand...

Is "genre" is a singular noun, or a collective noun, like a herd of [animals]?

I think using a singular verb as used in the sentence may be fine, then. I think?

When you have a singular noun in the present tense, don't you usually end the (regular) verbs with -s or -es? Like, "the boy explains"?

Also, I feel your examples are a bit confusing to me. You have the "herd of gazelles crosses", and then you have "flock of birds fly". Wouldn't it be the flock of birds flies, if we were to follow the gazelle example? Flock is a collective noun as well, so it could (probably?) have a singular verb, right? (Like, a bird flies or flew, depending on present/past tense.)

jaus tail said:

Hi,

i was giving this online test for grammar and came across this line. the second genre of investors explain/explains...

i pointed out that it should be 'explains' since you'd use, but the test said it should be explain:
a herd of gazelle crosses the river, of flock of birds flies. so you should have 'explain' for 'genre'

Am I wrong? Any explanation is appreciated...

Click to expand...

I agree. There seems to be a single genre. Replacing genre with synonyms: the second type of investors explains...
The second sort of investors explains...

The problem stems from "investors". An investor explains. Investors explain.

My problem is that I have no idea what the word "genre" is doing there? I have no cue at all what a genre of investors even is. I've never heard the word "genre" used like that, so I don't know what to make of it.

If "genre" just means type, then "investors" should be singular. "The second type of investor explains."

But as long as the plural "investors" is in the sentence, then "explain" is correct.

jaus tail said:

the second genre of investors explain/explains...

Click to expand...

It's a strange clause, to be sure, as I can't think of a reason to use genre this way, but I'll tackle it anyway just to answer the question.

Genre is a singular noun and therefore requires the singular verb explains. Investors, which as James pointed out should be investor, is irrelevant because it is part of a prepositional phrase, which can be removed from the sentence.

the second genre explains...

Even if investors (plural) were correct, it wouldn't alter the number of the singular genre. Look at this sentence:

The second batch of letters contains love notes to his wife.

Even though letters is plural, batch is singular and requires the singular contains. Remove the prepositional phrases and you get:

The second batch contains love notes.

Even though the batch contains multiple letters, it is only one batch and requires a singular verb.

guttersquid said:

Genre is a singular noun and therefore requires the singular verb explains. Investors, which as James pointed out should be investor, is irrelevant because it is part of a prepositional phrase, which can be removed from the sentence.

.

Click to expand...

Well, "investors" would be irrelevant were it "investor", but using "investors" makes it relevant, which is why it's wrong.

"Investors" is conflicting because it's plural, so with it in the sentence, both "explain" and "explains" are wrong, whether it can be removed, or not. I'd love to know who wrote this sentence for the test. Even grammar gurus often mess up here because they don't take the time to proof the sentence.

It is interesting that a single letter is what gives this entire sentence such problems. One little letter.

Jamesaritchie said:

Well, "investors" would be irrelevant were it "investor", but using "investors" makes it relevant, which is why it's wrong.

"Investors" is conflicting because it's plural, so with it in the sentence, both "explain" and "explains" are wrong, whether it can be removed, or not. I'd love to know who wrote this sentence for the test. Even grammar gurus often mess up here because they don't take the time to proof the sentence.

It is interesting that a single letter is what gives this entire sentence such problems. One little letter.

Click to expand...

No, if genre was a collective or singular noun (which I don't know if it is or not based on lack of context), then the verb would most likely be singular, like guttersquid said. The plural "investors" is irrelevant if genre is a collective or singular noun. The verb depends on the noun, which looks like it's "genre", whatever that is in this sentence.

jaus tail said:

I tried searching for the sentence in the test but couldn't find any. There are tons of passages and question papers.

Click to expand...

Ask Medi. Really. She knows this kind of stuff.

ETA: For myself, I'd use "explains". But I have less confidence since The Great Ellipsis Unlearning of 2014, so...

Jamesaritchie said:

Well, "investors" would be irrelevant were it "investor", but using "investors" makes it relevant, which is why it's wrong.

"Investors" is conflicting because it's plural, so with it in the sentence, both "explain" and "explains" are wrong, whether it can be removed, or not. I'd love to know who wrote this sentence for the test. Even grammar gurus often mess up here because they don't take the time to proof the sentence.

It is interesting that a single letter is what gives this entire sentence such problems. One little letter.

Click to expand...

A genre of investors explains . . .

You are incorrect. When you have a noun phrase--in this case the singular noun "genre" followed by the modifying prepositional phrase "of investors"--the subject noun, not the object of the modifying preposition, governs the verb.

absitinvidia said:

A genre of investors explains . . .

You are incorrect. When you have a noun phrase--in this case the singular noun "genre" followed by the modifying prepositional phrase "of investors"--the subject noun, not the object of the modifying preposition, governs the verb.

Click to expand...

I agree. There are many investors, and there are various genres of them. I thought it was obvious, so I didn't even mention it in my earlier reply.