Is this a correct structure?

[sid29]

Hi all,

I read this sentence on a site:

Are you a company that requires web content writing that brings more business?

Is the use of the word 'brings' correct? Or should the word be 'bring.'

Thanks for your help!

Sid

[QuillingQuillQuiller]

Are you a company that requires web content writing that brings more business?

~~~
(Scratching head ...)
(Reading back again ...)
(Thinking for awhile ...) :rolleyes:
(Raising shoulders ...) :o
(Err ...) :confused:

I think we need 6 answers for this single question, minimum.

Do you have any more clues? Or could you please kindly paste a paragraph to here? :)

best regards,
Budi

[DanielScocco]

Are you a company that requires web content writing that brings more business?

First of let me add that this is a poorly structured sentence.

The word "brings," however, appears to be correct. What is bringing more business? Web content writing, and that is acting as a singular noun there.

[Maeve]

Hi all,

I read this sentence on a site:

Are you a company that requires web content writing that brings more business?

Is the use of the word 'brings' correct? Or should the word be 'bring.'

Thanks for your help!

Sid

The sentence is correct because the subject of brings, that, stands for web content writing: web content writing brings

[QuillingQuillQuiller]

Are you a company that requires web content writing that brings more business?

The main problem is with the last clause "that brings more business".

Assume readers know what you are talking about, compare these when they are trying to guess the meaning:

Are you a company, that requires web content writing that brings more business?
Exp: 1 Subject + 1 Verb.

Are you a company, that requires web content writing, that brings more business?
Exp: 1 Subject + 2 Verbs (2 activities).

"brings" were used correctly because either Subjects were singulars, but different in the meaning. As a result, we'll have two audiences.

Are you a company that requires web content writing that brings more business?
Who is bringing more business? The company or the web content writing?

How about using which rather than that for the last clause? Assume the author refers it for "writing".
Are you a company that requires a web-content writing which brings more business?
or for an obviously mark off:
Does your company require a web-content writing which brings more business?

Tips: Do you know that that "that" that that "that" that that "that" must be used in a grammatically correct sentence?

It's advisable to avoid using too many of "that" in one statement.

_______________________
Brief but not short.

best regards,
Budi

[sid29]

Thanks to all who replied to my query, especially to Budi who explained the structure in detail. Thanks again folks!

Sid

[Al B]

Just thought I'd point out that there is another error in the sentence in question on the original post: 'Are you a company...?'

Nope, nobody is a company, they might run a company, or work for a company, but anyone reading the sentence is not a company.

Personifying business entities is quite a common mistake in writing, but you'll note that in newspaper business pages and business publications (or at least the ones that are well written), companies are always the singular entity 'it' and not 'they'. So if written correctly, an example sentence would read: It's a company with a 'can do' approach as opposed to They are a company with a 'can do' approach

Notwithstanding the original problem and corrections suggested, it should more correctly read something along the lines of: Does your company....?

Al

[Luke S.]

Honestly, I felt the same about the sentence as Al B did. I found its opening "Are you a company ..." quite jarring.

One could argue that in the case of a sole proprietorship, one could refer to oneself as a company, but the usage is awkward, and as Al B so appropriately advises: avoid it!