MSGID: 1:153/716.0 cd24c692   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 5ccaace0   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:   
      
   AK>  -----Beginning of the citation-----   
   AK>  Historical opinion is now split. Some scholars think   
   AK>  that the lack of contemporary accounts of Arthur mean   
   AK>  he is a later invention.   
   AK>  ----- The end of the citation -----   
      
      
   AK>  1. What about the absence of article before "Historical   
   AK>  opinion"?   
      
      
              I've seen both "public opinion" and "scientific opinion" elsewhere,   
   without articles, so this usage makes sense to me.   
      
      
      
   AK>  2. why do they write "mean" instead of "means"?   
      
      
              In brief, I reckon somebody goofed....  :-Q   
      
      
      
   AK>  IMHO the lack of ... means...   
      
      
              Agreed.  The bare subject is "lack", the bare predicate is "means".   
   OTOH the plural "accounts"... while it may lead native speakers astray because   
   it's +\- the last thing they noticed before the verb... is irrelevant to folks   
   who can recognize a prepositional phrase as descriptive material which doesn't   
   enter into the equation regardless of whether or not xxx is countable....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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