We have seen that
sometimes in English the subject comes after the verb. This can occur after
question words, after place expressions, and after negative expressions. When
the subject and verb are inverted, it can be difficult to find them, and it can
therefore be a problem to make them agree,
(Behind the house) was* the bicycles I wanted.
(Behind the houses) were* the bicycle I wanted.
In the first example it
is easy to think that house is the subject, because it comes directly in front
of the verb was.
House is not the
subject, however, because it is the object of the preposition behind. The
subject of the sentence is bicycles, and the subject bicycles comes after the
verb because of the place expression behind the house. Because the subject
bicycles is plural, the verb should be changed to the plural were.
In the second example
the subject bicycle comes after the verb were because of the place expression
behind the houses. Because the subject bicycle is singular, the verb should be
changed to the singular was.
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