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Let's say you are storytelling, and you say:

"I currently take three or four ''mini-retirements'' per year and know a couple of people who do/does the same.''

This is a subject-verb agreement issue, which is confusing me right now, because I don't know which is to follow correctly if it is:

  • ''a couple'' then I will follow it with does
    • "people" then I will follow it with do

Which is which?

John Arvin
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1 Answers1

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The correct way is to say that you know a couple of people who do the same. I agree that this is confusing, but "a couple" is used as a numerical adjective – just as if you said, "I know five people who do the same." Generally, in the US, when people say a couple of anything, they mean two, even if they are describing items that do not come in couples or pairs.

Nick Uva
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  • I get it now. May I ask, in your profile, what does ''recovering'' lawyer mean? Is it going back to school/as an already lawyer but something happened or something? Thx also. – John Arvin Apr 29 '18 at 21:04
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    @JohnArvin It’s a joke. In the US legal profession a recovering lawyer is someone who once worked as a lawyer but no longer does so. They may be said to be recovering in the same way one speaks of a revovering patient, or perhaps even a recovering alcoholic. It is somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek term. – Nick Uva May 01 '18 at 02:03