Jose Carillo's English Forum
Joe Carillo's Desk => You Asked Me This Question => Topic started by: ofie4domingo on January 04, 2018, 08:37:56 AM
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"these information" or "this information"
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Hi,
The noun "information" is an uncountable noun. Recall that uncountable nouns are nouns which we can't count individually or separately, and the word "information" falls under this category. Uncountable nouns don't have plural inflection.
If an uncountable noun (that is the form we can see in the dictionary) is used as a subject in a sentence, the uncountable noun will call for a singular verb.
With that therefore, we can safely and logically say that the demonstrative "this" is the correct option since the word "information" being an uncountable noun calls for singular verb.
INFORMATION + Singular Verb
INFORMATION - considered singular uncountable noun
THIS = Singular
THESE = Plural
Therefore,
THIS + INFORMATION and not THESE + INFORMATION
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Note:
Please be advised that there is an exception to this grammatical prescription. if you want further understanding about the matter, I'll leave the discussion to sir Joe . He's the expert! =)
Example: THIS (WRONG) police versus THOSE (Correct) police
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Your detailed answer to ofie4domingo's question is absolutely right, Mike! I need not add anything to it. Thank you!
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thank you very much. can I ask another question here.
Which of these two sentences is correct? "
1. Attached are the approval letter for your signature and the letter request from the Company.
2. Attached is the approval letter for your signature and the letter request from the Company
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thank you very much. can I ask another question here.
Which of these two sentences is correct? "
1. Attached are the approval letter for your signature and the letter request from the Company.
2. Attached is the approval letter for your signature and the letter request from the Company
Hi,
The sentence "Attached (is, are) the approval letter for your signature and the letter request from Company X" mentioned on your post is a passive construct in its inverted structure. To answer your question about verb agreement, let's revert its structure to its normal order.
THE approval letter for your signature and THE letter request (request letter) from Company X (is, are) attached.
Now that we have it in normal order, let's star analyzing the structure.
There are two subjects in the sentence presented above. These subjects are connected by "AND".
S1: THE approval letter for your signature
S2: THE letter request (request letter) from Company X.
Conj.: AND
So the subject structure calls for a plural verb (are).
To further analyze the structure, notice that I have capitalized the article "THE" in the sentence above. If my memory serves me right, the separate use of the article after the coordinating conjunction (AND) clearly indicates that the subjects are distinguished from each other and are therefore treated plural.
If you would like to avoid such problem, you may recast your sentence by making it in the active voice.
"I have attached the approval letter for your signature and the letter request from Company X."
But, of course, its appeal to the reader or the recipient of your letter will be different compared to the passive construct, which ,for me, sounds more formal.
Let's wait for sir Joe for further explanation or clarification if i missed some points on this post.