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If any of Canadian publishers already have/has the rights for this book?

Which one is correct or both are possible?

Andrew
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Dominic
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3 Answers3

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If any of Canadian publishers already have/has the rights for this book?

Correct question with the verb have:

Do any Canadian publishers already have the rights for this book?

Do you have x?, Do they have x?, Does he/she/it have x?.

Lambie
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  • It could also be "Does any Canadian publisher already have..." – godel9 Apr 05 '18 at 14:41
  • I showed plural and singular question forms with have. The point is that the OP did not know how to pose a question with the right verb form regardless of plural or singular. – Lambie Apr 05 '18 at 15:01
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any Canadian publishers is a plural noun, so you should use the plural verb have. However the 'of' is incorrect - the sentence should read

If any Canadian publishers already have the rights for this book

It shouldn't have a question mark either, as that sentence by itself can't be a question.

otah007
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First off, your sentence is a fragment, since there's a dependent clause ("If...") without a main clause.

If you want to rewrite the dependent clause, it could be either of the following:

If any Canadian publishers already have the rights for this book...

If any Canadian publisher already has the rights for this book...

It's more likely to be the second one, since only one publisher typically holds the rights to a book at any one time.

Notice that it should be "any Canadian publishers" instead of "any of Canadian publishers", as @otoh007 pointed out.

godel9
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  • Why the downvote? If this answer is incorrect, I'd like to know why. – godel9 Apr 05 '18 at 14:13
  • I'm equally puzzled by the downvote. It would be a good idea if downvoters were required to give a reason, even if this meant identifying themselves. – Ronald Sole Apr 05 '18 at 14:45