And style manuals move to dictionaries when it comes to dashes. The dashes of the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook specifically recommend the use of a dictionary to answer questions about dashes in composite terms. Ms. Walraff spends a few pages on this subject and proposes three solutions to this enigma. The first, as we mentioned, is not to worry too much about the situation. Most of the problems with thematic supplements are "harmless," she says. Okay, we can all relax on this. The grammar police won`t show up at our door. The second is to consider rewriting the sentence and the third is to add additional information indicating how many items you are talking about. Perhaps we could rewrite it this way in this case: "Both authors had broken throats, or we could add information by saying, "Both authors complained that they had neck pain caused by the excessive deviance of their windows." Other phrases with a plural theme may not be so simple. What if the supplement was a collective noun that cannot be made plural, as "dignity"? Should you say, "Warriors have kept their dignity" or "their dignity"? Well, the answer seems obvious here: "Being" doesn`t make sense.

The rule of collective subtantes, which are complements, is therefore to maintain the regime of the complementary singular even in a plural subject (2). To write about companies, it can be difficult to get an agreement between subjects and supplements. If you call the subject singular, then the supplement should be singular. Use the plural supplement when talking about business or other topics in the plural. Let`s take the phrase "The authors complained that their necks were bad" and let`s see what Ms. Walraff would say about it. Unlike most grammars who want to stick to the rules and want things to be fair, she tells us not to worry about it. She says: "It is usually obvious or next to the point of knowing how many things should be paired with the individuals in the subject, and then you don`t need scruples to use the plural.... That, it seems to me, is the rule that really applies to your wives and heads. She seems to approve of using the singular "neck" after the plural "she." But if I had to choose between "his neck" and "his neck," I would probably choose "neck." It sounds better to me: "Your necks are twisted." Maybe it`s a matter of personal taste. The infinite expression acts as a direct object of the desired verb. Carol (actor or "subject" of the infinite sentence) the captain (infinitely) the captain (subject supplement for Carol, by state of infinitely expressed) of the team (prepositionalphrase as an adjective) What is the most confusing subject complement agreement you have ever concluded? How did you fix it? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments below! These are all good questions that have forced us to dig deep into many grammar resources, in the hope that they will provide an answer.