Shouldn't it be "needs to" *?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Analysts said it the onus is on older drivers to upskill but one of them noted that the plight of these drivers need to be looked at in the broader societal context

Shouldn’t it be "needs to " instead?

Thanks.

3 Likes
2

Yes. “The plight…needs to be looked at …”
The third word should probably be “that” rather than “it”.

3 Likes
3

I agree. ‘The plight of these drivers’ is in fact a singular noun that needs a singular verb.

3 Likes
4

Analysts said the onus was on older drivers to upskill, but one noted that the plight of these drivers needed to be seen in a wider societal context.

1 Like
5

I completely agree. The structure here is clearly verb+that-clause including a reporting verb - in this case ‘say’ - and you can omit ‘that’ without changing the meaning of the sentence.

1 Like
6

One small note, though: the present tense can also be used in the independent clause. So, it would not be wrong to say: ‘One noted that the plight of these drivers needs to be seen in a wider societal context.’, because it is clear that the current situation wants changes in the near future. The present tense makes this clearer. However, either the present or the past will do fine, depending on how you want to phrase all this.

1 Like