Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
21:04 Jan 16, 2011
English to English translations [PRO] Religion
English term or phrase:noun and verb agreement
"Theological reflection, and even more often the piety of believers transforms them in numerous ways [...]"
In the above I would change 'transforms' into 'transform'? Is there any case the 's' could be kept?
The main grammatical focus (i.e. the subject) of the sentence doe not have to be the same as the "stronger" actor in the sentence. Grammatically, it's equivalent to the following:
"My mother, and even more often my little sister, pesters me about why I haven't yet married my boyfriend."
Why write it this way, you ask? Because the next sentence might be something like, "But I don't take it as an attack on Joe's commitment to me; I know that she just can't wait to become a grandmother."
"She" is obviously "my mother" here, and I hope that you can now see why an author might construct a sentence this way.
Right, the meaning is that both reflection and piety transform them, but the sentence is constructed to focus on reflection. I understand your confusion, as it seems incongruous that the less "active" noun would dictate the grammar of the sentence, but this is a common sentence structure in English. Think of the piety clause as more of an aside, or an acknowledgment that reflection isn’t the only relevant factor.
No. The sentence must have at least two commas; and regardless of whether you put them after 'reflection' and 'believers', or after 'and' and 'often', the verb will remain singular.
"Theological reflection and even more often the piety of believers transforms them in numerous ways" definitely needs commas, and changing the verb to "transform" would not help.
Therefore, the following sentence would be correct as well: "Theological reflection, and even more often the spiritual experiences of believers, transforms them in numerous ways."
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +6