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  • Which is correct?
  • My research: I found a lot of questions related to using that and those, but none of those were about what I'm trying to find out. Then I found information about those in Cambridge Dictionary, but it didn't answer my question,. That is why this question occurred.
  1. That is my rifle and the bullets
  2. Those are my rifle and the bullets
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2 Answers 2

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Apply the principle of "proximity agreement"...

This is my father and my brothers
because "father" is singular.

These are my brothers and my father
because "brothers" is plural.

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  • So far so good. Hence we have "That is my rifle and bullets" and "Those are my bullets and rifle". But there is a contextual aspect that needs to be covered too. "What's that in the corner?" may refer to the collection (singular) of things in the corner. Hence the reply "That is my bullets and rifle".
    – Anton
    Jan 17 at 10:08
  • But equally, What're they in the corner? "primes" for the reply Those are my bullets and rifle. Annd although it's not exactly on a par with horses and coach, the sequence bullets and rifle is definitely "second best".
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 17 at 11:40
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    I agree with you. I hope the questioner finds our discussion helpful.
    – Anton
    Jan 17 at 18:50
  • It's quietly demonstrated in the answer and discussion, but I think it's worth pointing out to the questioner that "bullets" doesn't need a definite article in the sample sentence(s).
    – user888379
    Jan 17 at 20:35
  • 'That is the crew and passengers'? 'Crew': formally singular; notionally plural (usually). Often used with plural verb forms.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Jan 18 at 16:24
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When two nouns are joined by " and" we use a plural verb. In this case Those are my rifle and the bullets is the correct sentence because the noun " rifle" and the noun" the bullets" are joined by conjunction "and"

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