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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

What I say and what I think is/ are....

...if the sentence ends with "my affair," should the verb be singular or plural? My answer key says that "is" is the correct answer but I can't find a grammar rule to explain/ support this. Any suggestions?
  

Top answer

if the sentence ends with "my affair," should the verb be singular or plural? My answer key says that "is" is the correct answer but I can't find a grammar rule to explain/ support this. Any suggestions?

— Yoong Liat

  • if the sentence ends with "my affair," should the verb be singular or plural?
  • My answer key says that "is" is the correct answer but I can't find a grammar rule to explain/ support this.
  • Any suggestions?
  • Could you please provide the missing words in the sentence?
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8 Answers
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Anonymous...if the sentence ends with "my affair," should the verb be singular or plural? My answer key says that "is" is the correct answer but I can't find a grammar rule to explain/ support this. Any suggestions?
Could you please provide the missing words in the sentence?
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That is the sentence. It reads: What I say and what I think is my affair. To my ear, the "is" should be "are" but my answer key lists "is" as the correct answer without explanation.
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Hi Despoula

I would agree with 'is' in your sentence. "What I say and what I think" can be thought of collectively as one unit or concept (i.e. "What I do" or "That which I think and say") -- particularly when followed by the words "my affair".

It would be different if your sentence were worded this way, for example:

What I say and what I think are two
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Thank you. That is helpful. Now I only hope my proficiency students can accept that answer without throwing stones at me!!
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Hi Despoula

It seems to me that proficiency students should be able to accept the idea that two words can form a single concept:

Ham and eggs is my favorite breakfast.

EDIT:
I've just noticed that there is a current thread on a similar topic and Mister Micawber had provided a nice example:
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Certainly they should. Ham and eggs as a unit or as a "dish" can clearly be understood. Their book asks the question as : What I say and what I think _________ my own affair. There are 4 possible answers, one of them being "is," another "are" and the other two are pres. cont. choices. With the book example I think their life would be made easier if the sentence read, "What I say and
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You can guess the answer by looking at the last word of the sentence. The last word is "affair", a singular. This means that the speaker considers both the what clauses as a single unit.
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DespoulaCertainly they should. Ham and eggs as a unit or as a "dish" can clearly be understood. Their book asks the question as : What I say and what I think _________ my own affair. There are 4 possible answers, one of them being "is," another "are" and the other two are pres. cont. choices. With the book example I think their life would be made easier if th
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