who is/are corrupt ...

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"People are watching and we know who is corrupt," he said. "If Najib as prime minister choose them as ministers, his political party will lose the next general elections."

Is 'is' correct? Shouldn't it be 'are' to be match 'them', which is plural?

Thanks.

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@tanguatlay,

No, it's correct. The 'is' (verb) matches 'who' (the subject). Subject-verb agreement.

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I think "who" by itself is generally singular, though it can be plural, as in the famous line from" Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when they are about to be shot dead by the posse that's been dogging them relentlessly from country to country, and Paul Newman exclaims in disgust, "Who ARE these people".

In the case above, since "who" comes in the sentence before the plural people, the singular is probably more usual. If the sentence order had been reversed, "who are" might be more likely to be used.

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@MontereyJack,

Quote:

I think "who" by itself is generally singular, though it can be plural

You're right, it can be. But in the example given it would be more correct to say'... which people are...' etc. Within the context, I believe 'who' should take 'is' as a predicate.

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@tanguatlay,

Both are possible, but I prefer "is".

It needn't refer to just one person.

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@McTag,

Many thanks to both of you.

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@tanguatlay,

U were right.
It shoud be "are"

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@OmSigDAVID,

Quote:

It shoud be "are"

should denotes a personal preference, David, and again, yet again, the grammar of a language is NOT driven by personal preference.

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tanguatlay, you can follow David's suggestions or not, as you wish. Just don't follow his spelling or you'll flunk.

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@MontereyJack,

Quote:

People are watching and we know who is corrupt," he said. "If Najib as prime minister choose them as ministers, his political party will lose the next general elections."

I could go either way on is/are. I can see why are would be correct, but I would probably say 'is' myself, as if I were looking at each potential minister individually on a case by case basis, rather than at all of them as a group.

But two words you defiitely need to change in your next sentence are 'choose 'and 'elections'.
It should read: If Najib, as prime minister ,chooses them as ministers, his political party will lose the next general election.

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@MontereyJack,

Thanks, Jack.

I don't understand what David is talking about.

U were right.
It shoud be "are"

I cannot find "U were right" in any of my posts in this thread.

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David unilaterally has decided to reform the entire English-speaking world's spelling by producing what he thinks, with no knowledge of the subject, is "phonetic". "U" is his version of "you". He means he's agreeing with you on the use of "are". Way to go, David, obscuring instead of clarifying.

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@MontereyJack,

Thanks, Jack. I was made a fool by him.

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@aidan,

Thanks, Aidan.

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@aidan,

Quote:

I could go either way on is/are. I can see why are would be correct, but I would probably say 'is' myself, as if I were looking at each potential minister individually on a case by case basis, rather than at all of them as a group.

Odd that you think 'are' is correct yet you'd go with 'is', Aidan.

Trust your innate grammar. It's much more reliable than any of the nonsense that you were taught in school.

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@JTT,

I think it could be read either way - but my first, and I guess intuitive, reading of it would lead me to say 'is' for the reason I stated.

I also personally feel that sometimes going with what I've been taught is correct, but doesn't come instinctively to me, sounds stilted and 'put on'- although I always try to remember all those rules when I speak/write to a friend of mine who was my English professor.
I think that's a good point for people who are learning English as a second or 'other' language to remember too - sometimes sticking too closely to the lesser known (and used) rules of grammar sort of 'brands' them as a non-native speaker.

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@aidan,

For what it's worth (that is, a lot) my take on this is the same as aidan's.

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@aidan,

Quote:

I also personally feel that sometimes going with what I've been taught is correct, but doesn't come instinctively to me, sounds stilted and 'put on'- although I always try to remember all those rules when I speak/write to a friend of mine who was my English professor.

If it doesn't come instinctively to you, Aidan, then there's an excellent chance that what you were taught was a prescription and it may well be that it was not part of English at all.

Quote:

I think that's a good point for people who are learning English as a second or 'other' language to remember too - sometimes sticking too closely to the lesser known (and used) rules of grammar sort of 'brands' them as a non-native speaker.

I don't quite follow you here.

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