Not Prepared Properly

This quote is from a prepared statement? Really? Well, then I am prepared to reveal why the prepared statement's prep work leaves much to be desired.

As we all know, a plural subject takes a plural verb. The prepared statement got this elementary grammar rule half right (or, for the pessimists reading today's post, half wrong). The simple subject of the sentence is schools, so the plural verb share is correct, but offers should be offer. And the adjective its, the possessive form of the singular pronoun it, should be their, the possessive form of the plural pronoun they. The word that goes here needs to be plural because it refers to the member schools, not to one school.

We're not finished. Are you prepared for more?

Turns out, quoting from that (ill-)prepared statement affected the Connecticut Post writer. In the last sentence, the teams are slated to play, not the team. More subject-verb disagreement. To paraphrase a certain medication's tagline, the writers of the prepared statement and the newspaper article should have used Preparation H. In this case, the H stands for help.