Mrs. Bluezette's
GRAMMAR YAMMER
"A PBS mind in an MTV world."

Friday, July 30, 2010

Mrs. B wants you to look at what "ABC World News" correspondent David Wright said:

One out of four air traffic controllers, at any given control center, are barely out of training. (7-5-10)

And here's the graphic that went with the story:

1 out of 4 air traffic controllers are barely out of training

Oops. Here's what David should have said:

~One out of four air traffic controllers, at any given control center, is barely out of training.

One out of any number always takes a singular verb.

Here's the graphic corrected:

~1 out of 4 air traffic controllers is barely out of training

In each example, "out of 4 air traffic controllers" is a prepositional phrase modifying the subject "one." So it should be disregarded when deciding on the verb.

Here's another mistake, this one on The Detroit Free Press's website:

One out of 10 Americans say they are ex-Catholic. (FreeP.com, 7-11-10)

That should be:

~One out of 10 Americans says he or she is ex-Catholic.

Again, "one" is the subject; "out of 10 Americans" is a prepositional phrase modifying "one."

Now please spend a moment considering this "one" quotation:

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it's the only one you have.--Emile Chartier, philosopher (1868-1951)

 
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