In the sentence below:
Manpower provides a range of services that satisfy/satisfies the needs of the whole employment and business cycle.
Should the verb in the noun clause modify "range" or "services"?
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2Most likely you would want to keep the verb in agreement with services, since it is those, and not the range, that will be important here. This could change if breadth of offerings were more important than the individual services themselves. – Robusto Sep 16 '15 at 13:49
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2There is a related very recent question on verb agreement (using selection rather than range). – Andrew Leach Sep 16 '15 at 14:10
2 Answers
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Both work and are grammatical.
"satisfy" and 'satisfies" give the sentence slightly different meanings, which boil down to the same thing in almost all cases.
- "Manpower provides a range of services that satisfies the needs of employers" means that Manpower provides a range of services, and that range satisfies the needs of employers. "Satisfies" modifies the noun "range", which is singular, hence it is singular.
- "Manpower provides a range of services that satisfy the needs of employers" means that there are services that satisfy the needs of employers, and Manpower provides a range of them. "Satisfies" modifies the noun "services", which is plural, which is why it is plural.
The meaning is slightly different, so you should decide which one you mean. But most people won't notice the difference.
DJClayworth
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The short answer: Range. The sentence should read: Manpower provides a range of services that satisfies the needs of the whole employment and business cycle.
With certain phrases or sentences it can sometimes sound odd at first listen, but the verb should always modify the noun that precedes the preposition, not the object of the preposition. While it may be true that the "services satisfy", it is the range that we are talking about, while "of services" merely further describes the kind of range.
A longer complement to the answer has to do with whether the word "range" is singular or plural. In this case it is safe to say that it is singular, hence "satisfies". But what if you use "group of services" instead? Is "group" singular? I would argue for leniency on this one, making either option okay, but would personally choose "plural" and refer you to this question and discussion: Is "group" singular or plural?
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2Why do you think it is "range (of services) that satisfies" instead of "range of (services that satisify)"? Aren't the services doing the satisfying, not the range? – tchrist Sep 16 '15 at 15:08
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The simple answer has to do with grammar: That's just the way it is. It is the object of that construction, but not the object of its preposition that we modify.
The logic you point out does apply (especially in British English) when deciding whether a group is meant to be sensed as singular or plural.
– davidly Sep 16 '15 at 15:28 -
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