Page 3: … However such issues can still arise – as was seen in the Brown case, considered later, and the ongoing issue of the ‘rights’ relating to assisted suicide…
3. This was originally question 3 here: such issues is plural, so why's the verb (after 'as') singular? Is this verb called the copula?
User StoneyB kindly replied:
The verb is singular because its subject is singular.
Is "such issues can still arise" "the entire superordinate clause" in StoneyB's words? I do accept this as the subject, but how can clauses have grammatical number? What does this mean?
Best Answer
Clauses do not have inherent number, but when a clause is employed under the category of an NP† it must be treated as either singular or plural. A single clause so employed is treated as a singular entity; two or more coordinated clauses so employed are treated as a plural entity.
†An 'NP' is not the same thing as a 'noun phrase'. A noun phrase is a phrase headed by a noun, while an 'NP' (pronounced En-Pee) is a phrase which plays certain (not all) syntactic roles typical of a noun or noun phrase. Thus a clause (which is headed by a verb) cannot be a noun phrase, but it can be (as in these examples) an NP.