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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Subject - predicate agreement in cleft sentences
Subject - predicate agreement in cleft sentences
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ninon100
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Subject - predicate agreement in cleft sentences
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Dear colleagues, I�ve come across this sentence in a students� book: What I liked about the film were the characters. Can we also say "What I liked about the film was the characters" ? Also, "What I really can�t stand is liars" OR "What I really can�t stand are liars"? Please help :) |
25 Sep 2019
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cunliffe
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Well, I think you need the plural. If you changed the sentence round, it�s easy to see why. �The characters were what I liked...� �Liars are what I really can�t stand.� It�s confusing because, in speech, you might hesitate; What I liked about the film was...... the characters.� You could also say �The thing I liked about the film was the characters� and in saying �What I liked about the film was the characters� you are making that assumption that you are talking about the thing you really liked and it happens to be plural. I hope you get some more answers! Lynne |
25 Sep 2019
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ninon100
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Could we say it�s a double norm? Like, both variants are acceptable? |
25 Sep 2019
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cunliffe
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Hi ninon, I find both forms acceptable, but I wouldn�t like to state it definitively... |
25 Sep 2019
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Aisha77
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Hi ninom: You must establish a correlation between the subject and the verb. You can ask yourself who or what is making the action (according to the verb) and your answer will be the subject. If it is plural, the verbs MUST be in plural and vice-versa. What I liked about the film were the characters. You ask: What was that I liked? Answer: The characters: So, as the main sentence (not the relative one) has a plural subject obviously it has to be "were". "What I liked about the film was the characters" ? This last one is incorrect, for the same reason. The sentences start with "what" so as Lynne has said to understand well the subject you must turn around the main clause and the relative one (the one starting with "what") Hope I was clear enough.... Aisha ;) |
25 Sep 2019
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cunliffe
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Yep, Aisha is right. I seem to remember having this one out before and I was on the losing side.  I wonder if it rings a bell with anyone else? It does sound all right to me, because I am making that jump and assuming that the �what� is a thing, but to be correct, you must have the plural. Lynne |
25 Sep 2019
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ninon100
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It says 3. Singular or plural verb with a cleft sentence. A cleft sentence is a structure English speakers use to emphasise a particular point. They often, though not always, start with a WH word. �What really makes me angry is people who throw rubbish on the ground.�
�The most interesting thing I saw last week was the elephant at the theatre.� However, cleft sentences often use very large subjects (What really makes me angry) and long complements (people who throw rubbish on the ground) and because of this the verb can agree with the subject or the complement – which means, in the case of a plural complement – the verb can be plural. �What really makes me angry is people who throw rubbish on the ground.� (Verb agrees with subject)
�What really makes me angry are people who throw rubbish on the ground.� (Verb agrees with plural complement) |
25 Sep 2019
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douglas
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Interesting info Nino. Something inside told me you could get away with either, but I couldn�t find anything to support it. Thanks :) |
26 Sep 2019
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Aisha77
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wow!! I will always be learning, this is fantastic!! Thanks so much, Ninon!
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26 Sep 2019
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Aisha77
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Well, after having many looks I can tell Spanish and English are different on this subject. Lynne, Ninon, and Douglas... In those sentences the subject is WHAT, not what I thought (I was comparing with Spanish), this sentences starting with "What ...." are actually pseudo cleft, and they go with the main verb "TO BE" and WHAT is the subject (and as it can be plural or singular, it is here where it becomes interesting and the rule Ninon told us plays its role) Thanks once more!!! Aisha ;) |
26 Sep 2019
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