Grammar

[kags]

Which is correct "please let me know if there continue to be problems" or "plese let me know if there continues to be problems"

[kags]

I have spelt please wrong the 2nd time - that is not part of the question - should it be "continue" or "continues"

[linlam]

You could try 'please inform me if problems continue'

[kags]

That would have been better - but I had already sent the email to the several thousand staff at my place of work, then I had a grammar crisis of confidence!

[Lindy Loo]

How does this sound?? "Please let me know if there continues to be problems" OR "let me know if the problems continue"

[kags]

these all sound better but I still need to know which of the 2 options in the question is strictly correct. I have looked at them so many times now that they both look ridiculous!

[iwantthatone]

Im no expert, but contiunue without an s looks looks and sounds wrong to me....the other one with an s seems right..

[rja211077]

of the two, the latter is marginally better, but neither is much good and as others have stated, there are much better ways to say it.

[kags]

thanks - as I said above I had already sent the email to everyone at work and when I re-read it, it looked wrong. I did say "continues", but will use a differenct phrase in future!

[maximo]

I think "continues" is the right grammatical form because the subject ( "to be problems") is singular. But then I could be wrong...

[Hgrove]

My own guess is that it is better without the "s".

[Quizmonster]

Dear Kags, don't worry about it...either is acceptable in current British English usage. That is partly because nobody much bothers about the subjunctive mood in verbs nowadays, which is no bad thing! Here's an example of it in use: "The report recommends that he face a tribunal." Notice it says 'face' not 'faces' which would normally accompany 'he'. The modern tendency would be just to use 'faces'. On the same basis, 'continue' would be (strictly) correct in your example, but what the hey!

[kags]

thanks Quizmonster - I am always very keen to get my grammar right, and am appalled by some of the emails that come round at work - especially as it is an educational establishment! I don't suppose for one moment anybody gave that phrase in my email a second thought, but I wanted to know if it was right. Next time I shall use a less complicated phrase.

[Marsh]

I don't think the subjunctive applies here. I think it should be "continue" because a plural subject needs a plural verb. Say you eliminate the word "there", which is just a device to move the subject of a sentence to the back and, to simplify things further, take out the word "any". Your choice then becomes between "If problems continue�." and "If problems continues�."
The first looks right so let's put "any" back in. Now you get "If any problems continue�." Add in "There" and "to be" and move "problems" to behind the verbs. "If there continue to be any problems�."
A parallel example would be "If there are further problems". If you wanted to use "is" you would say "If there is a further problem" . Also correct are versions using the subjunctive: "If there should be further problems" or "If there should be a further problem". But who would now use those in an email? (Except me, obviously)
However, I agree with Quizmonster that few people will have a problem with your version. Look at how the votes went both ways in this thread. Much as I would like English to stay with the rules I was taught as a child, it doesn't. It's a living language and democratic to boot.

[bernardo]

The correct answer is "continue to be problems" because "problems" is a plural noun and therefore needs the plural verb "continue". QM's point about the subjunctive is a valid one, but in this case the subjunctive and the indicative are the same because they are plural.