Is the following correct?
Are chemical, electronic and electrical engineering included?
Or is included referring to a list (singular)? -
Is chemical, electronic and electrical engineering included?
donald remero
[ Moderator ]
It could be singular ONLY if "chemical, electronic and electrical engineering" can be construed to be singular.
Example:
We have three categories: "arts and crafts," "dogs and cats," and "fruits and vegetables."
But wait a minute, is not "chemical, electronic and electrical engineering" to be included? I thought there were going to be four categories.
Some version of this context (in reference to an arbitrary classification system) is about the only way I can imagine a case in which the singular version would be correct.
NN comments
petroff
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What if ‘and’ is change for ‘or’? I imagine in that case one could ask: “Is chemical, electronic or electrical engineering included?” Would this be correct?
petroff
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What if ‘and’ is replaced by ‘or’? I imagine in that case one could ask: “Is chemical, electronic or electrical engineering included?” Would this be correct?
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: “But wait a minute is not "chemical, electronic and electrical engineering” to be included?“. I had to re-read this sentense several times (maybe it is just me). Comma? Word order? Contraction?
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: is the following sentence as it should be? “But wait a minute is not "chemical, electronic and electrical engineering” to be included?“.
donald remero
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: Yes, that sentence is as it should be, but only in that context where the group of three things is actually only one category — in essence, making “x, y and z” a singular, compound noun. This is no doubt a bit awkward, but it is an awkward context. And I guess the point is that it would have to be an awkward context for it to be singular. 99.9% of the time, or so, it would be plural — and, moreover, proper or correct only as plural. …Hope that makes sense.