So I was asked to rewrite the following sentence with the correct tense of the verb given in bracket: It is I who (be) to do it. Initially I believed, the following would be correct: It is I who has to do it. But after researching for a while I think I am wrong and the has verb needs to be replaced with am. Any suggestions?
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1Does this answer your question? Is "It is you who are mistaken!" correct? See also He was to get an ice cream, is to , was to . Be to + infinitive– niamulbengaliCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:05
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1Does this answer your question? It is I who am at fault? // niamulbengali's find is a few months earlier. //// Obviously, the question is asking for the correct form/s of 'be' here; has/have do not fulfil question requirements, whether they give grammatical sentences or not.– Edwin AshworthCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:06
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An actual answer would help.– JonakCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:08
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From John Lawler at the duplicate (tailored): "Verb agreement is invariant under clefting, so if the predicate is 'am to do it' in the original (ie 'I am to do it'), it will still be 'am to do it' in the clefted variant." ==> 'It is I who am to do it.'– Edwin AshworthCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:15
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Please suggest an appropriate answer. Has/have are forms of be verb, aren't they? Please help.– JonakCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:16
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1 Answer
"Is" could be the right form. There are plenty of examples here.
- And it is I who is to restore the fruits of my labor to the entire world.
However, this usage is reckoned with as a common mistake (The Most Common Mistakes in the English Language), and you should really use "am".
- It is I who am to do it.
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Is the sentence "It is I who have to do this" grammatically right?– JonakCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:30
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@Jonak It should be, the principle is the same; but in this case also you find "has" a lot. This is a little like "It's me": it is called correct nowadays, although you can still say "It is I."– LPHCommented Jan 21, 2021 at 19:40
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