python vs c#

[Bengt Richter]

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 21:11:31 GMT, Anna Martelli Ravenscroft <anna at aleax.it> wrote:

>Christos TZOTZIOY Georgiou wrote:
>> On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:18:35 +0200, rumours say that aleaxit at yahoo.com
>> (Alex Martelli) might have written:
>> 
>> 
>>>>Well, not to feed the troll, but there is a few relevant points in it's
>>>>posting.
>>>
>>>(Please, please, please: "its", not "it's"... pretty please...)
>> 
>> 
>> (Late reply that maybe can make one smile)
>> 
>> Alex, you are 99% correct.  Leave a 1% chance that Max referred to
>> "julio" as "it"... :)  Trolls are genderless!
>
>
>Sorry, Christos. Alex was correct: "its" is the appropriate usage here. 
>"it's" is a contraction of "it is", and NOT the possessive form of it. 
>Furthermore, Alex was quite kind in *not* correcting the mismatch 
>between the singular form of the verb "is" and the plural noun "points". 
>  I, otoh, am not so generous.
>
>The sentence *should* have read:
>"Well, not to feed the troll, but there are a few relevant points in its 
>posting."
>
I almost posted a similar comment ;-) OTOH ...
How many relevant points do you need to start a debate?
How would you answer that question?

A few is enough?
A few are enough?
A few relevant points suffices, or a few relevant points suffice?
A small number suffices, or a small number suffice?
A dozen is sufficient?
A dozen are sufficient?
 
I suspect that there are some semantic subtleties at work. I.e., when you focus
mentally on the few points as a single collection, the singular forms feel right,
but when you focus on the few points as separate entities, plural forms feel right.
Thus you want the verb (e.g.,is/are) to agree numerically with _some entities_, or with
_a collection_, according to your focus.
I think some sentences can be read either way, depending on which way your attention
is directed (e.g. by word order and discourse context etc.) "A few" can work as noun or
adjective, it seems.

I like words too ;-)

Regards,
Bengt Richter