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"Why being a tiny country sucks"- is this correct?

m0nsterunderurbed
Is this correct? Or why tiny countries sucks? Does the suck has to have a 's' if countries already has a 's'

12 comments

sics2014•
This isn't a complete sentence. It sounds like the title of something, such as an article. If you're asking a question: "Why do tiny countries suck?"
lionhearted318•
It’s only correct if it’s a title. This isn’t a complete sentence. If you want to say “tiny countries” it’d become “why tiny countries suck” without the S. If you want this to be a full sentence instead of a title, it’d be “why does being a tiny country suck?” or “why do tiny countries suck?”
oty3•
As in ‘reasons why being a tiny country sucks’? If so, sounds all good to me. Not sure why the other comments think it’s wrong.
TigerDeaconChemist•
"Why being a tiny country sucks" would be correct because "sucks" refers back to the gerund "being," which is a verb functioning as a singular noun. This would work as a header to an article or list of complaints about existing in/as a small nation, but NOT as a standalone question. "Why tiny countries suck" would be the proper way to phrase the second one, because the verb "suck" is referring back to the plural noun "countries." This also has a connotation of someone from a large country mocking smaller ones, as opposed to someone venting about his own country.
Kcufasu•
In general I would say while perhaps not incorrect, the use of the word "sucks" is pretty poor English however it used
coresect23•
Why tiny countries = plural countries : suck Why being a = singular third person : sucks
wbenjamin13•
It’s not a complete sentence so it’s hard to say whether or not it’s “correct” but yes you’d use “sucks” for a singular noun and “suck” for a plural noun.
modulusshift•
No worries, plural/singular agreement is tricky! Generally, if the subject is plural, the verb *doesn't* have an S. only the subject or the verb needs it, not both. The main exception is if the subject is "I". The other thing that is tricky about your example, is that the subject is "being", not "country". Think about it, it isn't that the country itself sucks, it's that the country *is small* that sucks. so the "is" is what sucks, which in this example becomes "being". Hope this helps!
Princesssdany•
I would say you can say this but that there's context missing too
Felix_Fi•
Yep it checks out. Other people here are saying it’s not a complete sentence, which is true, but incomplete sentences can be used for a whole host of things like titles, poetry, even completing someone’s sentence for them in conversation. As for the conjugation, the noun you are conjugating isn’t really “country” but rather “being a tiny country.” The being is what sucks here and it’s a singular instance of being; therefore, it is conjugated as third person singular by adding a “s” the end of the verb.
EGBTomorrow•
You are missing the main verb or you need to provide more sentence context. Maybe “Why does being a tiny country suck?” Or “why is being a tiny country sucky”
No-Customer744•
Country itself represents a big land mass thus using tiny leads to a hyperbole. This we use the word small country or big country. For the context of sucks we can say that here countries are personified and sucks is being used for the country as a person does it is singular and uses 's'