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Yoong Liat Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Who is / are online?

1i00Who 01b00is 02b00online. 02i00 Shouldn't it be 01i00Who 01b00are 02b00online.02i00 At any time, there are several members of the forum online. 02br
02br
00Thanks in advance.0-
  

Top answer

", in any context. 02br 02br 00"Who" is the subject in that question, and is always singular. " - "Americans"02br 02br 05002br 02br 02b 02i 00 010id1

— Kooyeen

  • ", in any context.
  • 02br 02br 00"Who" is the subject in that question, and is always singular.
  • " - "Americans"02br 02br 05002br 02br 02b 02i 00 010id1
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14 Answers
0
0 Hi Yoong,02br
00it's always "Who is online?" and never "Who are online?", in any context. I'm quite sure of this, but you can wait for the natives as usual.02br
02br
00"Who" is the subject in that question, and is always singular. You can say "Who are those people?" because the subject is "those people".02br
02br
01i01b00"Who 0
0
0
0Yes; even if you can hear a vast crowd outside your door, when the doorbell rings, you still say "Who on earth 01b00is02b00 that?", not "...are those?".02br
02br
00MrP 0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10MrPedantic12cite10Yes; even if you can hear a vast crowd outside your door, when the doorbell rings, you still say "Who on earth 11b10is12b10 that?", not "...are those?".12br
12br
10MrP 12br
12blockquote
10If you are certain there is more than one person at th
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0
0 Hi Yoong Liat02br
02br
00While you're waiting for MrP, I'll add my (AmE) point of view: I'm certain I would also say "01i00Who 01b00is02b00 at the door?02i00" -- just as MrP and Kooyeen described. 0-
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0 00I would like to add more context to my question, so it is as follows:02br
02br
001. Who 01b00is02b00 online: Peter, Paul, Mary 02br
00 2. Who 01b00are 02b00online: Peter, Paul, Mary. 02br
02br
00 Which sentence is correct? 00 0-
0
0
0 Hi Yoong,02br
00I know what you are trying to do: you want to find a case where you can say "Who are...?", in a question where "who" is the subject. I learned that such a case doesn't exist. When "who" is the subject, the verb is always singular. Like "everyone", you say "Everyone is happy to learn English here", even though "everyone" refers to a lot of learners, and you can't thi
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0 Hi Kooyeen02br
02br
01b00Who are 02b00all those people? (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)02br
01b00Who are02b00 they?02br
02br
00I made a mistake when I wrote: "Who ... online?02br
00I was actually more concerned with "Who is online" (without question mark)02br
00This appea
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0 Hi Yoong,02br
01b00Who is online - There are currently 2,567 guest(s) online...02br
02br
02b00Yes, that's what you see on the homepage. It is kind of a statement, yes, but I wouldn't say it is a complete sentence. I see it more like a kind of title, like "Installing Firefox" in a tutorial, which would indicate "Read here if you want to know how to
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0 Hi Kooyeen02br
02br
00I see it more like a kind of title, like "Installing Firefox" in a tutorial. I agree with you on that.02br
02br
00Now I would like to hear from a native speaker which is, strictly speaking, correct 'Who is online' or 'Who are online'. Or are both correct?02br
02br
00Best wishes. 0-
0
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0 I'm a native speaker, and I have nothing to add to what Kooyeen has already said.02br
00 His post sums up the situation. In the absence of a plural noun to trigger 01i00are02i00, the correct form is 01i00is02i00.02br
00(You may reread Kooyeen's post and take it as mine. 05000 )02br
02br
00 CJ0
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