'is' or 'are'

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1. It's only you who is/are confused.

2. It is I who is/are leading this project.

Should I use 'is' or 'are'?

Many thanks.

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@tanguatlay,

1. is

2.carefull This could be a trick question

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@dadpad,

dadpad wrote:

1. is
2.carefull This could be a trick question

What do you mean?

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@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

1. It's only you who is/are confused.

2. It is I who is/are leading this project.

Should I use 'is' or 'are'?

Many thanks.

THis is what I was taught, but I expect that some people will jump in to disagree:

1. "Who" is the subject of that verb and "who", in this case, refers to "you", so we want the verb that agrees with you-- are. You wouldn't say or write "You is leading the project".

2. Either of these is acceptable

It is I who leads the project

It is I who am leading the project

The second of these is perhaps a little formal.

To me, neither "I who is leading" or "I who are leading" is acceptable. You would neither say "I is leading" or "I are leading". However others may (and probably will) contradict me...

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@tanguatlay,

1. It's only you who's/who is confused.

2. It is I/me who's/who is leading this project.

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@tanguatlay,

Quote:

1. It's only you who is/are confused.

2. It is I who is/are leading this project.

Should I use 'is' or 'are'?

1. It's only you who are confused.
2. It is I who is leading this project.

I think the correct choice becomes easier to identify if you first turn each of those statements into a question to be answered.

1.Who is confused? You are confused. (You would not say, You is confused)
2. Who is leading this project? It is I. (You would not say, It are I)

1 Reply

@firefly,

Quote:

1. It's only you who are confused.

I think the correct choice becomes easier to identify if you first turn each of those statements into a question to be answered.

1.Who is confused? You are confused. (You would not say, You is confused)

Have you not molded the answer into the kind of cake you want, FF.

Who is confused?

??The person who are confused is you. ??

??The person who are confused are you. ??

It's only you who is in this state of confusion.

It's only you who confuse OR It's only you who confuses.

It's only you who have confused ... OR It's only you who has confused ... .

1 Reply

@JTT,

You only have 2 choices JTT--is or are--and you cannot otherwise alter the sentence. Laughing

Both sentences could be written better than the originals we were given.

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

My opinion -

1. It's only you who is/are confused.
This would depend on whether you is meant as a single person or more than one person. So, is for the singular, and are for the multiple.

2. It is I who is/are leading this project.
It is I who am leading this project. No is or are.
Oh, and I agree with contrex this can be put more simply, even - I am leading this project. The rest is "overkill".

So can the first one - You are the one who is confused/You are the ones who are confused.

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@firefly,

Quote:

You only have 2 choices JTT--is or are--and you cannot otherwise alter the sentence.

Both sentences could be written better than the originals we were given.

That doesn't address my questions, FF.

These,

1. It's only you who is/are confused.

2. It is I who is/are leading this project.

are perfectly natural, and exceedingly common, ways for English speakers to voice these ideas.

2 Replies

@JTT,

I think I agree, jtt, that 'It is I who is leading' could be common usage or maybe even advised usage at some point and thus be fine (see J M Cain signature of mine, as that was his point, that he was interested in common usage versus the prescriptives of his parents. He lived from 1892 to 1977.. But I still think, and always have, that 'It is I' is rather awkward to use on a routine basis.

It is I who are leading would be 'just wrong' re the numerics.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

If anyone is interested, here is the New Yorker link for the A Critic At Large column, This Woman's Work, by Hilton Als. He goes into the life of James M. Cain, giving a lot of his experiences with writing, basing the piece in part on the import of the books he wrote that turned into movies sometime later. The title of the article is a riff on the change in his writing re Mildred Pierce.

link for the whole article seems to be at no charge:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/03/28/110328crat_atlarge_als

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@JTT,

I wrote:

Quote:

These,

1. It's only you who is/are confused.

2. It is I who is/are leading this project.

are perfectly natural, and exceedingly common, ways for English speakers to voice these ideas.

I just copied and pasted the originals and my intent was to say that this style was perfectly natural and an exceedingly common way to express these ideas.

I see how my original could have been very misleading. I didn't intend to suggest that in 1. 'are' was a choice and that, in 2. 'are' was a choice.

Once more,

These styles

1. It's only you who is confused.

2. It is I who is leading this project.

are perfectly natural, and exceedingly common, ways for English speakers to voice these ideas.

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'is' or 'are'

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