Timeline for Agreement in "[Singular Noun] Is/Are [Plural Noun]"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 29, 2017 at 15:38 | comment | added | M-b | Would "Rice fields is my fish's native habitat" incorrect, if I want to consider "rice fields" not as a plural subject but as a singular unit? @JimiOke | |
| Jul 7, 2012 at 11:41 | comment | added | Jimi Oke | @arik-so: Indeed, it is the subject that determines the verb form you use. It does not matter whether the object is singular or plural. | |
| Jun 25, 2012 at 8:10 | comment | added | arik-so | Does it mean that when using is/are, it is simply the first subject that defines the number? (Or is the second "subject" not a subject, but an object?) | |
| Mar 25, 2011 at 16:18 | comment | added | emragins | @JCooper For some reason those aren't so weird sounding to me. I guess it has to do with a couple years of grammar intense German. It's also easier because those sentences can be reversed and are clearly correct, and we can also get into Yoda-speak: The oldest of my siblings, I am. | |
| Mar 24, 2011 at 17:37 | comment | added | JCooper |
It sounds weirder still when you use a first-person pronoun as the predicate nominative and modify a singular subject with a prepositional phrase ending in a plural: The oldest of my siblings is I. Or perhaps A family of happy people is we. Actually, I'm not sure about that one.
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| Mar 24, 2011 at 17:28 | comment | added | The Raven | Right, the second version would be natural. Note that adding a bit more detail with an article also solves the problem: "My fish's native habitat is the rice fields of Viet Nam." | |
| Mar 24, 2011 at 17:04 | vote | accept | emragins | ||
| Mar 24, 2011 at 16:25 | history | answered | Jimi Oke | CC BY-SA 2.5 |