FairPrice supermarket outlet in Aljunied as well as the Jurong Point mall were added to a list of public places that had been visited by Covid-19 cases during their infectious period.
Should it be “was” instead?
Thanks!
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Since the subject is the in the plural form it should be ‘were’.
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Thanks, Torsten.
Does “as well as” affect the choice of the verb as the phrase replaces “and”?
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Yes, ‘as well as’ means ‘also/and’.
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I beg to differ with you, Torsten.
FairPrice supermarket outlet in Aljunied … was added will be correct.
Further, as well as does not really mean and though it may seem so.
The sun shines as well as the moon. (Illogical, so: The moon shines as well as the sun)
The moon, as well as the sun, shines.
The teacher as well as the students is in the laboratory.
The students as well as the teacher are in the laboratory.
(I’m afraid the choice of the verb cannot but be governed by the number of the subject with which we begin the sentence)
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Hi Lawrence, you are right, many thanks for pointing this out. You are correct when you say that “as well as” does not create a compound subject so the predicate should indeed be ‘was’ rather than ‘were’.
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Thank you, Torsten, for being in accord with me. It’s so great of you!
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