Scarlett Johansson   Jennifer Aniston   Brad Pitt   Angelina Jolie   Orlando Bloom   Paris Hilton   Eva Longoria   Tom Cruise   Katie Holmes   Gwen Stefani   lindsay Lohan   Adam Brody   Britney Spears   Halle Berry   Nick Lachey   Madonna   Beyonce Knowles

one of/the only one of

, ,

Lindsay is one of my friends who are coming to the party.

Lindsay is the only one of my friends who is coming to the party.

In the first sentence, many people are coming so the pronoun "who" refers to the plural "friends." The verb paired with "who" is therefore plural: "are."

In the second sentence, only one person is coming so the pronoun "who" refers to the singular "Lindsay." The verb paired with "who" is therefore singular: "is."


When you encounter a noun phrase with the structure "one of [plural noun] who," look for "only” before the phrase.

  • If “only” is not present, the verb that follows should be plural.
  • If “only” is present, the verb that follows should be singular.

Usage: Paris makes several errors

,

"I have, like, huge enclosed cages all around in the backyard everywhere, so everyone has, like, their own space." - Paris Hilton, describing her collection of animals

This quote contains a redundancy, an error in pronoun/antecedent agreement, and two instances of superfluous colloquialisms.


This entry continues with an analysis and description of errors in the quote.


Continue reading "Usage: Paris makes several errors"

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