Slighty stupid question about grammar

[Agentt]

We say "Two bars of gold is a cheap price to pay for your love" because groups are treated as singular, just as "an army" "a class of students" "a group of about 50 men chased after me"

But why doesn't it apply when we say, "There are two bars of gold on the table."

 

[RedMuffin]

I think it's because in "Two bars of gold is a cheap price to pay for your love" we consider it as one singular concept as the focus is on delivering the concept (in this case the price) to the reader, but in the second case "There are two bars of gold on the table." the focus is on the countable individual objects.

So one case is viewed as one singular concept while the other is viewed as multiple countable objects.

 

[JayMark]

'Is' references the cheap price. The cheap price is two bars of gold. Cheap price is the one singular concept, as muffin explained.

 

[soupsabaw]

What ^^ said. The point of focus is the 'cheap price' and not the 'two bars of gold.'

 

[Deleted member 120990]

What I would say was already said, but it's not a stupid question. *pat pat*

 

[Corty]

It is to fuck with the mind of non-native speakers. No cap, fr fr.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

The focus noun changed from being a singular price of goods to that of multiple gold bars.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

We say "Two bars of gold is a cheap price to pay for your love" because groups are treated as singular, just as "an army" "a class of students" "a group of about 50 men chased after me"

But why doesn't it apply when we say, "There are two bars of gold on the table."

Two bars of gold is a cheap price to pay for your love.

Two bars of gold are a cheap price to pay for your love.

The emphasis of the sentence changes~.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Reorder the sentence to see how it works;
"A cheap price for your love is two bars of gold"
(though the passive/conditional "Would be" might be even stronger than "is")
BUT
"Two bars of gold is on the table" does not work; it would have to be "two bars of gold are on the table" or require a lot of revision of the sentence (e.g. "The item on the table is two bars of gold"

 

[Agentt]

The emphasis of the sentence changes~.

literally the worst part of languages...

 

[TheIcMan]

There are no stupid questions about grammar because grammar itself is stupid ?

 

[RedMuffin]

There are no stupid questions about grammar because grammar itself is stupid ?

I hate grammar and in spite of that i go write sentences wrong now on from also no add period at end

 

[JayMark]

I hate grammar and in spite of that i go write sentences wrong now on from also no add period at end

*Headpats muffin* you forgot your safety helmet and your drool bib little guy.

 

[3guanoff]

I would consider grammar a set of conventions used to help you navigate the minefield that is conversations with other beings. As a recent debate I had with an editor about "have proved" and "have proven" proves, sometimes right or wrong are one style guide apart.

Fortunately, there are many ways to express the same idea. If something feels wrong or too complicated, make it simple.
"Paying two gold bars for your love is inexpensive."
"For your love, a grand total of two gold bars is a cheap price to pay indeed."
"Why, two gold bars? I'd say that is a cheap price to pay for your love."
Not that those sentences are superior in any way. However, if you would agonize over every sentence, you may as well write in verse.

 

[prissi]

The emphasis of the sentence changes~.

While it does, hard grammar rules, the subject changes. That is a "problem" with English, the subject and object are spelled the same. The verb conjugation is determined by the subject like in French, German, ... and hence the distinction between subject and object becomes more important. In many languages, the ending of objects are therefore different to get the right verb ending. Making them more difficult to learn, of course.
In English, only a preposition "with the hammer" is a good indicator that a noun is an object. But many verbs need a direct object without prepositions.