English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
ONE RULE A DAY: SEMI-COORDINATION
Dr GAB with his colleagues ~are~ attending a conference in Oxford next week (nonstandard).
Dr GAB with his colleagues is attending a conference in Oxford next week (standard).
The couple as well as their neighbours ~was~ involved (nonstandard).
The couple as well as their neighbours were involved (standard).
When semi-coordinating conjunctions such as “with, together with, as well as, in association with, in collaboration with” join two nouns or pronouns in the subject position of a sentence, the first noun or pronoun to be mentioned controls the verb.
GAB
2 Comments
‘A couple’ meaning two persons who persons who are married’ can be treated as singular or plural. Be that as it may, one would think that the expression: ‘The couple as well as their neighbours was…’ should be a standard one.
Yes, when a collective noun does not perform an action, it is considered singular.