is/are

are and are

Funny, in my mind it sounds correct to go is/is

Would you say "A pen and a pencil is on the table" or "A pen and a pencil are on the table"?

I was thinking:

A pen is on the table and a pencil is on the table.

Yes, but they are on the table.

I suppose you could say, if you were addicted to cumbersome formulations, that what is needed is a pen and what is also needed is a pencil.

You would say "A pen and a pencil are needed", wouldn't you?

I know you would say "What is needed is three tons of sand" because the three tons of cement is considered to be an item. You'd say "What are needed are three tons of sand and one ton of cement".

Having thought about this again, I think that perhaps "What is needed" is a non-quantity specific thing or a composite entity, so I think that "What is needed is/b] a knife and a fork" could be considered acceptable usage.

Hi Contrex

Am I right to say that you mean 'What is needed is a pen and a pencil' is correct?

Many thanks.

Yes, exactly so.

Many thanks, Contrex.