Is or are

1. Which is the dirtiest:

2. Which is the dirtier:

Avangi1. Which is the dirtiest:

2. Which is the dirtier:

But the shorts, the jeans or the pants are plural nouns.

1. are
2. is

CJ

3. Which ___ dirtier: the pants or the shirt?

How about #3? Is or are?

sitifan But the shorts, the jeans or the pants are plural nouns.

Do you think my shorts is dirty? Do you think the Miami Heat is better than the Los Angeles Lakers? Which is the better team? The Red Sox or The Yankees?

 The easy way to figure this out is to determine what the missing word is. In both sentences, the word "one" is understood.

1. Which is the dirtiest ONE: 
2. Which is the dirtier ONE:
That's why you use "IS" in both sentences. 

Still, when choosing between two pair(s) of jeans, it wound not be unusual to say, "Hand me the cleaner/cleanest ones."

sitifan3. Which ___ dirtier: the pants or the shirt?

How about #3? Is or are?

is

My answers have all been based on "gut-feeling". I don't know the rule, so my answers may be completely inconsistent from one example to another. It appears to me that with a group of items, all of which are plural, the only answer that can be made i