Giving an example of a "problem" where the example is plural [duplicate]

Question

I've got this sentence here:

The most recent problem I can think of is personal knowledge management systems.

That seems grammatically incorrect because of the mismatch between the singular problem and the plural systems, but I can't just change it to

The most recent problem I can think of are personal knowledge management systems.

or

The most recent problems I can think of are personal knowledge management systems.

The only one that seems correct is

The most recent problem I can think of is the problem of personal knowledge management systems.

I think this equates the singular problem to the also singular problem of personal knowledge management systems. But it's extremely awkward. Any suggestions on how to handle situations similar to this?

Answer 1

It's not grammatically incorrect, but I agree with your instinct that it doesn't sound quite right. I would simply alter this to

"The most recent problem I can think of is that of personal knowledge management systems."

Answer 2

"The most recent problem I can think of is personal knowledge management systems."

This is correct because the singular (is) agrees with the singular (problem). Replacing "is" with "are" would be wrong.

"The most recent problem I can think of is the problem of personal knowledge management systems."

That sentence is too wordy. You could better rewrite it as:

"Personal Knowledge Management is the most recent problem that comes to mind."

or

"Personal Knowledge Management systems are the most recent problems that come to mind."