Subject-Verb agreement with All.
When many subjects are there in a sentence, and the implied meaning of "all" that refers back to those subjects is "the only thing," does the verb agree with a singular subject (All= the only thing)? Please advise.
Laughter, tears, and gossip was all she could imagine when she thought of her best friends in school. (Should this be were or was?)
Top answer
Laughter, tears, and gossip were all (= the only thing s ) she could imagine ... g. "a horse and cart was all we had for transport", but laughter, tears, and gossip are, for me, a bit too disparate for this treatment.
- Laughter, tears, and gossip were all (= the only thing s ) she could imagine ...
- g.
- "a horse and cart was all we had for transport", but laughter, tears, and gossip are, for me, a bit too disparate for this treatment.
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Laughter, tears, and gossip were all (= the only things) she could imagine ...
"was" would be used for a set of things that can be considered as one, e.g. "a horse and cart was all we had for transport", but laughter, tears, and gossip are, for me, a bit too disparate for this treatment.
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