using what...(again!)

Question

Hey,After posting a thread yesterday and reading it, I have a few questions I'd like to ask, if I may...Basically, it concerns 'what' and what comes after it.1) 'What makes up the core elements of this theory'Saying 'make up' sounds wrong, but as I'm talking about several elements, I'm unsure of what I should do2) 'What matters to me is life and death' (sorry!).When I first read this sentence, I expect only one thing to follow (eg: life) and not two, but saying 'what matter' seems wrong.Any advice on these would be most welcome.Thanks ever so much...

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

1) 'What make up the core elements of this theory'-- 'Make' seems fine to me.

2) 'What matters to me is life and death'.-- 'Life and death' is a single intertwined philosophical problem

Cool Breeze · Answer

Since what is the grammatical subject, it is singular and thus makes is the correct form of the verb. The first sentence is a question and consequently there should be a question mark at the end: What makes up the core elements of this theory?

CB

CalifJim · Answer

I think you may be confusing what as a question word and what as the head of a subordinate clause.

What (thing) makes up the core elements? [Question.] Agreement is between what and makes.

What (i.e. The thing that) matters to me is ... [Statement.] Agreement is between what and matters and between what and is. It doesn't matter how many things follow because what follows is not the subject. Only subjects agree with verbs in English.

Note the following, gathered at random from a few Web searches. The agreement is between the subject and the verb, not between the subject and the subject complements.

Heep is the forger and the cheat.
He is the founder and the president of the association.
He is the Resurrection and the Life.
The only difference is the godhead and the place of worship.
Another example is the hammer and the anvil.
Baton Rouge is the capital and the second largest city in the state.
The employer is the Disability Liaison Unit and the University of Melbourne.
The theme of this issue is the SSOs and the standards that are making the digital home possible.
One of the things that also draws us together is the cussedness and the persistence of the press corps.
The very first thing ZFS resilvers is the uberblock and the disk labels.

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,
I would say:

What matters to me is Italy.
What matters to me is Italy and Spain.
What matters to me are the United States.

That is, always "matters", singular, but the verb "to be" agrees with the following noun.

That's what I do.

CalifJim · Answer

... is the United States.

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

CalifJim... is the United States.

Hi,
I remember we talked about this in another thread... Both a plural and a singular verb are ok. Look at this thread where GG says "plural" and you say "singular"

I generally tend to use a plural verb, like in Italian.

CalifJim · Answer

My point has more to do with "the United States", not the intricacies of "what".

The United States is (Not are) a big country.
It is (Not They are) made up of 50 states.

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Ooops! I see...
LOL, I have to be careful... in Italian it would be plural, so it's confusing.

using what...(again!)

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