Monday, September 26, 2011

Was They Really?

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted in an incredibly long time, but a lot has happened! I have now become a full-time Editor with a company, and I'm hoping with a more structured schedule I will be able to update more frequently.

Today's goof isn't a local one, but comes from a source where I rarely find errors: www.npr.org. This is from the article entitled, "Dead See Scrolls Are Now Online."


"The scrolls are searchable in English and they were digitized using a $250,000 high-resolution camera, so you can zoom in and get a feel for the animal skin they was written on."

The problem lies in the was as opposed to were. Though I could get into subjunctives, a good, simple rule is to remember that were is more commonly associated with a plural subject. The scrolls were written on animal skin. If there was simply one scroll, it would say, "The scroll was written on animal skin."

Happy late Monday/early Tuesday everyone!

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