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welkins2139
Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 252
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 Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject: is/are |
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What she wants is ice coffee and two donuts.
What she wants are ice coffee and two donuts.
Are they correct?
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damon@English24/7
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 96
Location: Vancouver Canada
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| Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 10:22 am Post subject: |
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From page 66-67 of "The Grammar Book" by Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman:
"Traditional grammars tell us that when a clause functions as a subject, the subject-verb agreement is singular--regardless of any plural noun phrases that occur as part of the subject clause or the verb phrase. For example:
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That the children want friends doesn`t surprise me.
What they want is revolutions everywhere. |
We do not have survey information on this type of agreement; however, we suspect that the second type of subject clause cited above cause some difficulty--even among native speakers. This seems especially true when the verb is followed by a plural noun phrase."
So your first example is correct by the rules, but usage differs greatly.
damon |
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CP
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
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| Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with Damon. I can hear the native speaker saying it either way, but I'm pretty sure the "is" predominates because, if nothing else, "what" is singular and what follows the verb might be anything.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb |
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lotus
Joined: 25 Jan 2004
Posts: 862
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| Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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Hi welkins2139,
Think of it this way:
What she wants is this.
What she wants is breakfast.
What she wants is coffee and donuts.
What she wants is coffee and two donuts.
What she wants is ice coffee and two donuts.
The subject complement is a composite list of what she wants.
--lotus |
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JLiddy
Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 2
Location: Thailand
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| Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 1:53 am Post subject: |
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What she wants is ice coffee and two donuts
I would say iceD coffee
The issue of singular and plural is correct
_________________
JohnL |
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