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He is one of the men who do the work.

Could someone explain why it is "do" and not "does" up there? I'm sure this question has been asked before and I've memorized what to do with such sentences. But still I'm confused as to the reason why "do" is correct.

Is the subject up there "men" and not "he"? Why isn't it possible to make "he" the subject?

GGgirl
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  • Related: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/46311/is-each-and-every-one-of-you-singular-or-plural – MrHen Nov 06 '13 at 14:20
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    Here comes one of the men who do the work might not sound as awkward. The same principle is involved: He is / here comes {one of the men who do the work}. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 06 '13 at 14:28

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Because the subject of 'do' in this sentence is 'men'.

Think of it in this way:

Which people do the work? The men do the work.
He is just one of those men.

Now, joining them:

"He is one of the men who do the work."

Also, it may be possible to make 'him' the subject, but we'd have to change the sentence.

mikhailcazi
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  • I agree. I suppose one could say 'He, among other mean, does the work', but even then some might argue for 'do'. – WS2 Nov 06 '13 at 14:54
  • Add 'the' to make: "He is the one of the men who does the work." Now 'one' is no longer part of the men, but singled out to become the antecedent of the verb. – shipr Nov 06 '13 at 21:01
  • @WS2 In your construction, do would be ungrammatical, though, wouldn't it? It's the same as "He does the work", with an additional part inserted, just to add information. – mikhailcazi Nov 08 '13 at 10:48
  • @mikhailcazi Yes, you are right, it should be 'does'; it cannot be 'do'. The commas separating the subordinate clause, 'among other men', make that clear. – WS2 Nov 08 '13 at 11:09
  • @shipr That does make sense, but sounds very odd. Also, it doesn't convey the same meaning as the original sentence. :) Perhaps it's more natural to say, "Of the men, he is the one who does the work." – mikhailcazi Nov 08 '13 at 11:30
  • @mikhailcazi No, it does not have the same meaning as the original sentence; I did not intend that it should. It does not sound odd to me, however, because I have often said something similar, with a pause (that could of course be set off by commas but not require it). The way you give does not sound more natural to me, but it is more clearly stated. – shipr Nov 08 '13 at 16:38