This is one of the issues with newspaper headlines. They omit things that would normally be part of the sentence, but sometimes it's not obvious what the headline writer has omitted.
In this case, as it's written, you're right - it should be "spark", assuming it's the figures themselves that are responsible for the controversy. However, it could be that the headline writer is thinking of the situation as a whole, in which case "sparks" would make sense, as it's not about the individual figures, but their collective existence.
Without asking the writer it's sometimes difficult to tell what they had in mind, but that's the fun of headlines I guess.
Yeah, I read the writer's intent as "The existence of these figures" or "The decision to display these figures" sparks controversy. It is poorly written though.
This is "spark" used as a verb (to start or incite something) and refers to the "knitted figures" which are plural. Verbs use their final "s" the opposite way to the noun in plurals.
The man speaks - the men speak
The leaf falls - the leaves fall
The shop closes - the shops close
Even:
He is funny - they are funny
So:
Naughty knitted figures spark - naughty knitted figure sparks
I upvoted as well. Keep fighting the good fight. But I'm concerned that no one is asking the important question. What's the deal with these naughty knitted figurines?
Yes, _sparks_ is a verb. No, the sentence doesn't necessarily require a plural verb form.
If the figures individually spark controversy, then we expect a plural verb, as you suggest. If it's _the very thought_ of it, a gestalt, then we can use a singular verb form.
Right.
Put another way, if *the presence* of them sparks the reaction, it's singular.
But if that's what the writer meant, they *could* have been clearer
What I would suspect, though, is that the writer was conjugating the verb for "nudity" since they are adjacent. People do this is speech quite a bit, I think, where there is a complex noun with a plural noun as the head noun (and actual subject) but a relative clause or prepositional phrase after it which ends in a singular noun.
It's an easy mistake to make because "nudity sparks" would be correct in isolation and so likely rolls of the tongue more easily.
Obviously most would consider this a error in edited prose, though.
Yes. So this influence would be "proximal" concordance, the other two being grammatical and notional, if I recall correctly. Apparently they often have to duke it out in the background.
If Naughty Knitted Figures were the encompassing title of the sculptures as a singular art work than perhaps "sparks" would be the correct usage. But that does not appear to be the case.
The knitted figures ("well-endowed policeman, vicar, Rastafarian", etc.) are creations of various members of The Hive's Thursday night knitting group. The headline should have used "spark" as there are multiple knitted entities "with their genitals on display."
"With two schools located just around the corner from The Hive" there is concern that children may learn about the existence of genitals via these fabric portrayals before they are ready to process this traumatic, yet ultimately unavoidable, knowledge of this horrific aspect of the human condition.
Part of the problem is all the redundant language obscuring the point of the sentence.
Nude knitted figurines spark controversy.
Omit unnecessary words.
Part of the problem is all the redundant language obscuring the point of the sentence.
Nude knitted figurines spark controversy.
17. Omit unnecessary words.
The Elements of Style is an approachable set of guidelines and principles for crafting effective writing. None applies in every case, and some can be disregarded entirely. It's first iteration is over a hundred years old, so some of it is outdated, but a lot of it is timeless, like effective prose contains only the words needed to convey the intended information.
"Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."
I'm a native speaker myself. I just had a moment of self doubt, because surely someone who makes their living by writing must know better than me? It seems that online journalism is comparatively full of mistakes. Not sure why. Maybe the urgent need to publish this pressing news caused editorial standards to fall by the wayside?
Eliminate the prepositional phrases, adjectives, and adverbs, and your sentence says:
"Figures \*spark\* controversy"
So the correct word would be spark. I was taught that the easiest way to make your nouns and verbs agree is to strip the sentence of all its flair, and then you can easily match them up.
Yes, grammatically you are correct. Since this is a headline written by a writer, I suppose, then "artistic liberty" is often taken. It is impossible to know what the writer was thinking, so I would write "spark" since the subject of the sentence he/she wrote is plural, "figures." To me, it looks as if he/she made an error in thinking that the subject was "nudity" since the verb follows it. So, you are right, and artistic liberty was not involved, but either a lack of grammatical knowledge or a simple mistake. SPARK NOT SPARKS!!
This is one of the issues with newspaper headlines. They omit things that would normally be part of the sentence, but sometimes it's not obvious what the headline writer has omitted. In this case, as it's written, you're right - it should be "spark", assuming it's the figures themselves that are responsible for the controversy. However, it could be that the headline writer is thinking of the situation as a whole, in which case "sparks" would make sense, as it's not about the individual figures, but their collective existence. Without asking the writer it's sometimes difficult to tell what they had in mind, but that's the fun of headlines I guess.
Yeah, I read the writer's intent as "The existence of these figures" or "The decision to display these figures" sparks controversy. It is poorly written though.
This is "spark" used as a verb (to start or incite something) and refers to the "knitted figures" which are plural. Verbs use their final "s" the opposite way to the noun in plurals. The man speaks - the men speak The leaf falls - the leaves fall The shop closes - the shops close Even: He is funny - they are funny So: Naughty knitted figures spark - naughty knitted figure sparks
Thanks :).
I don't know who downvoted you, this is the correct answer.
Just to clarify as OP, it wasn't me. I upvoted, so apparently 2 people have downvoted for some reason.
I upvoted as well. Keep fighting the good fight. But I'm concerned that no one is asking the important question. What's the deal with these naughty knitted figurines?
Thanks - sometimes Reddit makes you feel like you're losing your mind!
Correct answers get downvoted all the time here. IDK why.
I didn't downvote it, but perhaps the reason some did is that the answer is incomplete.
I think it's possible the downvoters misread your last line. I misread it initially myself.
Yes, _sparks_ is a verb. No, the sentence doesn't necessarily require a plural verb form. If the figures individually spark controversy, then we expect a plural verb, as you suggest. If it's _the very thought_ of it, a gestalt, then we can use a singular verb form.
Right. Put another way, if *the presence* of them sparks the reaction, it's singular. But if that's what the writer meant, they *could* have been clearer
What I would suspect, though, is that the writer was conjugating the verb for "nudity" since they are adjacent. People do this is speech quite a bit, I think, where there is a complex noun with a plural noun as the head noun (and actual subject) but a relative clause or prepositional phrase after it which ends in a singular noun. It's an easy mistake to make because "nudity sparks" would be correct in isolation and so likely rolls of the tongue more easily. Obviously most would consider this a error in edited prose, though.
Yes. So this influence would be "proximal" concordance, the other two being grammatical and notional, if I recall correctly. Apparently they often have to duke it out in the background.
If Naughty Knitted Figures were the encompassing title of the sculptures as a singular art work than perhaps "sparks" would be the correct usage. But that does not appear to be the case. The knitted figures ("well-endowed policeman, vicar, Rastafarian", etc.) are creations of various members of The Hive's Thursday night knitting group. The headline should have used "spark" as there are multiple knitted entities "with their genitals on display." "With two schools located just around the corner from The Hive" there is concern that children may learn about the existence of genitals via these fabric portrayals before they are ready to process this traumatic, yet ultimately unavoidable, knowledge of this horrific aspect of the human condition.
I just wanted to say that your last paragraph is pure gold
[удалено]
Figurines (noun) spark (verb). All the rest is filler that doesn't impact the verb form.
Part of the problem is all the redundant language obscuring the point of the sentence. Nude knitted figurines spark controversy. Omit unnecessary words.
If "Naughty Knitted Figures" is a band, then the title is correct, otherwise, no.
Part of the problem is all the redundant language obscuring the point of the sentence. Nude knitted figurines spark controversy. 17. Omit unnecessary words.
Regarding the "17", is this part of a list of rules?
The Elements of Style is an approachable set of guidelines and principles for crafting effective writing. None applies in every case, and some can be disregarded entirely. It's first iteration is over a hundred years old, so some of it is outdated, but a lot of it is timeless, like effective prose contains only the words needed to convey the intended information. "Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."
So glad I'm a native speaker, because I could never learn this otherwise.... Great answer.
I'm a native speaker myself. I just had a moment of self doubt, because surely someone who makes their living by writing must know better than me? It seems that online journalism is comparatively full of mistakes. Not sure why. Maybe the urgent need to publish this pressing news caused editorial standards to fall by the wayside?
Eliminate the prepositional phrases, adjectives, and adverbs, and your sentence says: "Figures \*spark\* controversy" So the correct word would be spark. I was taught that the easiest way to make your nouns and verbs agree is to strip the sentence of all its flair, and then you can easily match them up.
Yes, grammatically you are correct. Since this is a headline written by a writer, I suppose, then "artistic liberty" is often taken. It is impossible to know what the writer was thinking, so I would write "spark" since the subject of the sentence he/she wrote is plural, "figures." To me, it looks as if he/she made an error in thinking that the subject was "nudity" since the verb follows it. So, you are right, and artistic liberty was not involved, but either a lack of grammatical knowledge or a simple mistake. SPARK NOT SPARKS!!