Dear LS:

You wrote:
> Is “The worm went” a sentence?
>
Yes it is. It has a subject (“worm”) and a verb (“went”). Of course, most of the time you would include information about where or how the worm went, but it is a bona fide sentence.

Dear GC:

You wrote:
> Which is proper? There are approximately 150 linear feet in the project.
>
> Or
>
> There is approximately 150 linear feet in the project.
>
The first is correct. The subject is “feet,” which is plural. There is no reason to treat it as a collective noun (as “group”). “Are” goes with a plural subject.

Dear RB:

You wrote:

Dear Englishplus.com

I work for this Management Company in FL and my boss wrote a report which contains the following sentence:
“However, saying you have teams of 8’s, 9’s and 10’s and really having them is what sets A apart from other companies. ”
I think the verb is in the sentence is wrong it should be plural are. His partner who is an English Major and president of a major corporation also agrees with him. I think they are both wrong. I told him that sentences with plural subject must have a plural verb but he doesn’t agree with me. He says “saying” and “really having” requires a singular verb.

In my opinion the sentence should read:
“However, saying you have teams of 8’s, 9’s and 10’s and really having them are what sets A apart from other companies.”
What is the correct verb to use?

This is a good question and a bit of a tricky one. In modern American English both can be correct. The problem is that the predicate nominative is singular, in this case “what.” In English when we have a singular predicate nominative with a plural subject, a lot times we do make the verb singular. That has become common usage especially if you want to emphasize that the two items in the subject belong together. Note that people say “2 and 2 is four” just as much as they say “2 and 2 are four.”

However, you are in the most technical sense more precise because the subject is plural. If you want to emphasize the two parts to the subject, say “both saying and having.” Then the subject is unambiguously made up of two parts and the verb “are” should be used. However, you can just as easily reverse the order of the subject and predicate nominative and say “what sets us apart is saying and having.” In that case the verb “is” makes sense.

There is also another factor. Who is your audience?

If you are writing to an American audience, “is” should work fine, though there is nothing wrong with “are” here. However, if your audience is international and includes people from the UK, Ireland, or Commonwealth countries like India, then you should use “are.” This is understandable to Americans (just as “2 plus 2 are four” is) and follows the British practice using plurals with collective expressions. (Remember, in England they say “the government are.”)

I hope this helps.

Dear D:

You wrote:

> Dear Sirs:
>
> Can you please tell me which is the correct pronoun usage below?
>
> “Dear Joan: it was a pleasure to meet with Dan, Dennis and yourself last
> week”
>
> OR
>
> “Dear Joan: it was a pleasure to meet with Dan, Dennis and you last
> week”
>

There is no reason to say “yourself.” “You” is sufficient. “Yourself” is used either reflexively (when you do something to yourself as “I gave myself a bath”) or intensively (when you want to emphasize the individual
accomplishment or status as “He did it all by himself”). Also, any pronun with “self” needs an antecedent. “You” does not have one here.

For more see https://englishplus.com/grammar/00000027.htm “Pronouns Ending in -Self.”

Dear A:

You wrote:

> Hi there.
>
> I contacted your website a while ago regarding how to address a former Vice
> President of the U.S. You were very helpful then and I hope you can help
> me now.
>
> I argue that the following is correct:
>
> 1) “It is she who will be involved in the major event.”
> OR
> 2) “This is she.” (as one would respond on the phone when asked for by name)
>
> A staff member argues differently (against this). They seem to think we
> should use “her” in these situations.
>
> WHO IS CORRECT?…. if either. Thanks.
>
The grammatically correct versions in both cases are those written here. “It is she who will be…” and “This is she.”

In both cases the position calls for the nominative case pronoun since it is a predicate nominative. Having said that, in everyday speech, both in the US and the UK, people do commonly say “This is her” without any ambiguity.
If I were quoting a conversation, I would not change it. But if I was in a situation where my grammar might make a difference in how I am perceived, I would say “This is she” or “It is she.”