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This is a guest post by Jacquelyn Landis. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here.
My copyediting students occasionally stumble when they see a sentence like this one:
All the shirt needs is/are buttons.
Which is it? The singular is or the plural are? Most of us know instinctively that the verb form must match the subject form in number. This is called subject-verb agreement. But sentences such as this one seem ambiguous since all can be either singular or plural when it’s used as an indefinite pronoun.
It would be an easy choice if all were followed by a prepositional phrase to help us determine whether it’s singular or plural:
All of the water is draining. (singular)
All of us are tired. (plural)
So, what many writers would do with the problematic sentence is turn to buttons to help them make the decision. And since buttons is plural, then the verb should be plural, too. Right? Well, not quite.
Buttons in this sentence is what’s called a predicate nominative. Now, I know grammar terms like this are enough to send most people screaming into the night, but stick with me. A predicate nominative is simply a noun that is the same as the subject. It describes it further, just as buttons describes all.
Predicate nominatives do not determine the verb form; only the subject can do that. And the subject of our puzzling sentence, all, is a singular pronoun even though what it substitutes for (buttons) is plural. It stands on its own with no help from a prepositional phrase. When this is the case, it’s singular.
Thus, the correct verb form is also singular, so this is how our sentence should read:
All the shirt needs is buttons.
Follow the same logic when the subject is what:
What he ordered was steamed clams.
Whenever I’m tempted to use a plural verb in sentences such as this, I remind myself of a song: “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.” The song’s authors were teachers, and they got it right.
Jacquelyn teaches an online copyediting course to students from around the world Education to Go. Check it out.
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Great article and reminder for the rule!!
Thanks, that was a nice explanation. I usually try to replace the subject with a pronoun and see if that helps. It’s not always that simple though.
I’m interested in downloading your free ebook Basic English Grammar. How do I go about that?
Thanks,
Don
Your explanation is very good. I would analyze the sentence as containing a that clause so I have
All [that the doctor needs] is buttons.
Once I have found the subject for needs, I can find the subject for the is/are. As you note, all is singular unless modified by a prepositional phrase.
However, this is different from the second example,
What he ordered was steamed clams
because “What he ordered” is a noun clause.
I’ve always been confused on what to use for example:
neither the employees nor the boss was/were happy with the results.
A pair of pliers is/are always useful
I know that I’m to Identify the main subject for example: Everything including the clothes in the closet was no were stolen since every… is singular even though clothes is plural but is not the main subject but the first examples mentioned, I’m not quite sure I’d appreciate your help
What about a singular subject with a plural predicate nominative?
One of the main directions of the company is services to business and industry in the field of…
“One…is…services” or “One…are…services”?
Mary K, it would be “One…is…services.”