What - are or is
Hi,
“What really got me hooked into the show were its incredibly well fleshed out characters.”
”What really got me hooked into the show was its incredibly well fleshed out characters.”
I found this issue on a different forum and there wasn’t a clear answer saying which one is correct. Some native speakers there commented that ‘is’ is the correct choice, but there were a number of people that leaned towards the former.
Could you clear this up for me? I honestly don’t know what to believe any more.
Thank you.
Top answer
Ann225 I honestly don’t know what to believe any more. That's understandable. You'll see this kind of construction written both ways.
- Ann225 I honestly don’t know what to believe any more.
- That's understandable.
- You'll see this kind of construction written both ways.
- The technically correct solution is to use the singular when the subject is a what -construction and a linking verb follows, but if the part that follows the linking verb is plural, writers sometimes relax the rule and use the plural verb.
- In the latter case you can rationalize the plural by saying the real subject comes after the verb and the structure is inverted.
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Ann225I honestly don’t know what to believe any more.
That's understandable. You'll see this kind of construction written both ways.
The technically correct solution is to use the singular when the subject is a what-construction and a linking verb follows, but if the part that follows the linking verb is plural, writers sometimes relax the rul
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