0
Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Lists of mass nouns - plural or singular

Hi,

I am struggling with whether I should use 'is' or 'are' for the following statement:

Communication, interaction and engagement via digital technology are our objective.

or

Communication, interaction and engagement via digital technology is our objective.

or

Communication, interaction and engagement via digital technology are our objectives.


Help?!?!?
  

Top answer

The first one is ungrammatical because "objective" is singular, so the verb has to be singular. The third one is unfeasible; you want a unified objective, not three objectives all over the place. The second one is best: [Communication, interaction, and engagement via digital technology] is our objective.

— Anonymous

  • The first one is ungrammatical because "objective" is singular, so the verb has to be singular.
  • The third one is unfeasible; you want a unified objective, not three objectives all over the place.
  • The second one is best: [Communication, interaction, and engagement via digital technology] is our objective.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

3 Answers
0
The first one is ungrammatical because "objective" is singular, so the verb has to be singular. The third one is unfeasible; you want a unified objective, not three objectives all over the place. The second one is best: [Communication, interaction, and engagement via digital technology] is our objective.
0
0
Thanks so much, my gut feeling was that the second one was correct.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated!
0
0
If you want to say what your objective is,

Our objective is communication, interaction and engagement via digital technology.

If you want to say what communication, interaction, etc., are,

Communication, interaction and engagement via digital technology are our objectives.

CJ
0

Related Questions