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Along With
Getting Along
By Evan Jenkins
Mr. Lott, along with Speaker Newt Gingrich, were among those who signed the letter to the F.C.C." The phrase between commas is one of those parenthetical distractions that life serves up. The subject of the sentence remains "Mr. Lott," so we have to say "was among those."
The same trap opens with "as well as" and other interruptions: "The Mayor will now have an opportunity to demonstrate...that it is his management techniques, not any one person, that is responsible for the drop in crime."
"Not any one person" distracted the writer (and editor) into thinking that the subject of the last clause of the sentence had become singular, but the subject is still "techniques," so the clause should read "that are responsible...." We can avoid the traps by discovering and ignoring whatever just goes along for the ride.