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Verb Question

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(@Anonymous)
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1. Playing varsity sports develop friendships and spark rivalries, OR

2. Playing varsity sports develops friendships and sparks rivalries.

We are having a discussion on the proper use of the verb develop and spark.

I am thinking that if we simply said "Playing" then "Playing develop(s) friendships and sparks(s) rivalries would be correct.

But in the context of "Playing team Sports", it should be develop and spark.

Would like to know which one is correct and why?

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(@emmettredd)
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I am going to rewrite your second sentence so the issue is clear between 1 and 2.

2. Playing a varsity sport develops friendships and sparks rivalries.

To my mind, no further explanation is needed.

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OM, I think your #2 is fine as is.

EmmettRedd's rewrite also works.

But I'll add this ... dropping the "s" from those verbs works when the subject of the sentence is plural. For example: Sports develop skills.

And in the singular we would write: Sport develops skills.

What you have as the subject is "Playing varsity sports" which is a "noun phrase" and I believe they are inherently singular.

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We tend to pick out the subject first to decide how to conjugate the verb.  But sometimes one needs to watch the verb's conjugation to tell which word is its subject:

Flying   saucers   are fun.

Flying   saucers   is fun.

But with leading phrases like Playing team sports, Working multiple jobs,  Driving fast cars,  it's pretty clear that the subject is the gerund, which requires that what verb that follows be singular.

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Thanks all for chiming in with your inputs. I really appreciate the discussion.

I am bit confused with the two answers, which sound contradictory:

Hiemhenge: "What you have as the subject is “Playing varsity sports” which is a “noun phrase” and I believe they are inherently singular."

(From Heimhenge's guidance, I understand that the sentence would read: Playing varsity sports develops)

RobertB: But with leading phrases like Playing team sports, Working multiple jobs,  Driving fast cars,  it’s pretty clear that the subject is the gerund, which requires that what verb that follows be singular.

(From RobertB's guidance, the sentence would read: Playing varsity sports develop)

Am I understanding your responses correctly?

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