1 in 2 Of You Reading This Column Has Better Things To Do
•January 11, 2023•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer
Lucy DelMonico sent me a printed ad that reads: “1 in 2 US adults have diabetes or prediabetes.”
“Is this correct or should it be ‘1 in 2 adults has diabetes’?” she asked.
First of all, that’s a sobering statistic that should encourage more people to participate in Dry January, especially if your drink of choice is a piña colada or a brandy Alexander.
The subject of the sentence is “one.” And “one” takes a singular verb. Oftentimes, people consider “adults” to be the subject. Not so.
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