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/lit/ - Literature

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5837896 No.5837896 [Reply] [Original]

It is one of the most important pictures that was made by Someone.
It is one of the most important pictures that were made by Someone.

Which one is correct? Was or were?

>> No.5837901

Was

>> No.5837904

>>5837901
Why? That's what I said as well but I couldn't explain why other than that it sounds right.

>> No.5837906

>>5837904
Just think of it in terms of is/are.

One of the most important pictures that ARE?

No, one of the most important pictures that IS

>> No.5837907

>>5837896
For the second sentance to make sense it would have to be

They are some of the most important pictures that were made by someone.

>> No.5837909

Both work, don't they? They'd just affect the meaning:
>It is one of the most important pictures and it was made by Someone
>Among the pictures that were made by Someone, it is one of the most important.

>> No.5837913

>>5837896
was.
you are talking about the singular picture
not the plural pictures
now delete this thread

>> No.5837916

>>5837906
>>5837907
>>5837913
Well there's a previous sentence which was "It is one of the most important works that were made in the 20th century."
How do I explain the difference between the two sentences?

>> No.5837939

>>5837896
Neither. 'Making' a picture sounds weird and wrong unless you mean a movie, in which case you put a cigar between your teeth and say 'moving picture'.

>> No.5837974

>>5837916
pls respons

>> No.5837978

>>5837916
that makes no sense - it's a grammatical error
>It is one of the most important works that were made in the 20th century.
It were made? no, it was made in the 20th century

>> No.5837979

>>5837896
Either is correct

>> No.5837986

>>5837978
You're mistaken. The verb can be part of the phrase which is the object of the preposition, "pictures that were made by someone."

Of those pictures that were made by someone, it is one of the most important.

>> No.5837987

>>5837978
Dude, the important book were made, and it is one of them.

>> No.5837992

>>5837974

>>5837978
this.^
its a logical grammatical error

>> No.5837993

>>5837978
You're also mistaken in thinking that the verb in question (was/were) is being conjugated for the subject "it." The verb that goes with "It" is the form of "to be" that immediately follows it.

>> No.5837997

>>5837992
Wrong

>> No.5838009

Both sound awkward

It is one of the most important pictures by Someone.

would suffice. Any sentence you construct that leaves you confused about pronouns or prepositions and such is probably a bad sentence and should be rewritten.

>> No.5838013

>>5837997
>>5837993
r u people full on idiots?
i am going to break this down once and im done here.

>it
>the
>one
all active and singularly referring to a specific painting.
Was is the appropriate singular form to use here

were is ONLY appropriate in a singular manner when connecting to a CONDITIONAL SENTENCE.

which this is not. ok ??????

>> No.5838031

>>5838013
you're probably trolling but you're wrong.

see:
>>5837986

>> No.5838063

is everyone trolling in this thread or is this something that's not extremely obvious when you're a native english speaker?

>> No.5838070

>>5838063
Check your ESL privilege. Native English speakers don't usually spend any time learning grammar.

>> No.5838085

>>5838070

yeah that's what i figured, i can understand that

++ french is amazing for this sort of thing, you literally say 'it's me who AM [bringing sexy back, etc]'

>> No.5838113

>>5838063
The reason it's not obvious is not because people don't know how to speak, it's because the construction is ambiguous. Both conjugations are correct because the relative pronoun "that" is the same in singular and plural, and so could be referencing "one" or could be referencing "pictures."

>> No.5838127

>>5838113

i don't think it's very ambiguous

it is one of [the most important pictures that were made by someone] makes sense,

while

if you wanted to say 'it is one of the most important pictures, it was made by someone', you neither need to nor should subordinate it with 'that'.