On 16/10/2013 16:45, Pam Moore wrote:
On Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:45:18 +0100, David Hill
wrote:

On 16/10/2013 12:29, Bob Hobden wrote:
"shazzbat" wrote


"Tom Gardner"wrote
David Hill wrote:
Around £10,000 were stolen from a house
Or should it be
Around £10,000 was stolen from a house.

If you regard the money as individual notes then they "were" stolen
but if you regard it as a single unit of money then it "was" stolen.
It's niggling me.

IMNSHO the sentence is referring to a single unit,
therefore "was" is correct. Besides, it "sounds"
more elegant. If, OTOH, you had written "£10,000
worth of notes" then "were" would be correct.

GrammAr and spulling are they're to help people communicate
and understand each other Beyond that it is a question of
style and elegance.

And no, I'm not prepared to defend that statement.

You don't need to. It is self-evident.

While we are on this thread when did it become "Bored of this...."
instead of "bored with this....". I've even seen it written in adverts
lately.

Now for a discussion, should it be "Can I help you" or "May I help you"
when you answer the phone etc? :-)

Can I help you is asking the question "Am I able to help you"
whilst
May I help you is asking "Do you wish me to help you"

My present bug bear is "For Free"
Free means "for nothing" so for for nothing makes no sense.

David, you answered your own question about the money. I agree with
you.
I thought I was alone in fuming about "For free".

Another bugbear is "I would of", "He should of" etc which comes from
lazy speaking.

Oh please bring back Grammar schools.

Now how many of you say "somethink" and "anythink"
or "I am sat" or "I am stood". They've become more common than the
correct phrases.
Sorry if I've upset anyone. You've hit on my favourite subject, apart
from gadening!!!

Pam in Bristol

What about the seketre?