previous next

117. Plural subject and singular verb.

As the singular is the generic, and the plural the specific, a plural subject following a singular verb may be regarded as an afterthought. In Greek the oblique cases of “ἔστιν οἵ” are common, but “ἔστιν οἵ” itself is very rare, “εἰσὶν οἵ” being regularly used instead.

ἄκων δ᾽ ἔστιν οὓς ἐγὼ ἐπαινῶ καὶ φιλῶ”, PLATO, Prot. 346E; There be those whom—there are some whom—I praise and love against my will.

PLATO, Prot. 346E:ἔστιν οὕς” (see above).

XEN. An. 1.5.7:ἦν . . . οὕς” . Cyr. 2.3.18:ἔστιν οἵ” . Hell. 3.1.7:ἦν δὲ ἅς” . Mem. 1.4.2:ἔστιν οὕστινας;Ibid. 2.3.6: ἔστιν οἷς καὶ πάνυ ἀρέσκει; Vect.3.11:ἔστι δὲ ἃς . . . πόλεις” .

THUC.3.92.5:πλὴν Ἰώνων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν καὶ ἔστιν ὧν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν”, Except Ionians and Achaeans and other tribes that be. 5.25.2:ἔστιν ἐν οἷς” .

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: