August 20, 2014, 19:52
KallehWhich is it?
I was asked to weigh in on this today. What would you say?
In the following, is it "produce" or "produces"?
"...which concluded that substituting high quality simulation experiences for up to half of traditional clinical hours produce(s) comparable end of program educational outcomes to those students whose experiences are mostly just traditional clinical hours and produce(s) new graduates that are ready for clinical practice."
August 20, 2014, 23:21
tinmanBoy, what a mouthful.
The first should be
produces (substitution produces). The second is ambiguous. If the verb goes with
experiences, it should be
produce, but if it goes with
substitution, it should be
produces. I'm having a hard time deciding which way it is. I read it one way, then the other. It seems to me the last part of the sentence, "and produce(s) new graduates that are ready for clinical practice," is unnecessary and just muddies up the sentence. Why not just end the sentence after
hours? The traditional teaching method obviously produced graduates. If the method involving simulation is comparable, then it also must produce graduates. Then you would get
"...which concluded that substituting high quality simulation experiences for up to half of traditional clinical hours produces comparable end of program educational outcomes to those students whose experiences are mostly just traditional clinical hours."
August 21, 2014, 20:36
KallehI told her both should be
produces because they go with substitution, but you make a good point.
And...I agree about the "mouthful" and confusion. I was a bit surprised. This was a press release written by one of my editors - who dogs me about the use of "which/that" or ending sentences with prepositions, etc. And "mostly just?" Were this mine, it would be sliced and diced!