Relevant verb form after the subject
Moderator: Alan
Relevant verb form after the subject
In the sentence what should be the right word,"The only thing that I want you to hit right now is/are the books."
- Alan
- EC Teacher
- Posts: 12877
- Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:56 pm
- Status: English Teacher
- Location: Japan
Re: Relevant verb form after the subject
Strictly speaking, 'is' is correct since the grammatical subject (thing) is singular. However, many speakers would happily accept 'are' on account of the plural complement (books).