What kinds of things are your mother interested in?

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I'm really confused. Which among the structures is correct?

1) What kinds of things are your mother interested in?
2) What kinds of things is your mother interested in?

I would also really appreciate it if you could provide me with the grammar rule for this type of question. I need it for my class. Thank you.

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[+3] - jespah - 12/10/2015Those are kind of weird constructions, and that's probably why it's a bit confusing. [i]What kinds of clothes is your sister into[/i] is asking about an action by your sister. The verb modifies the...

@marsce,

marsce wrote:

I'm really confused. Which among the structures is correct?

1) What kinds of things are your mother interested in?
2) What kinds of things is your mother interested in?

I would also really appreciate it if you could provide me with the grammar rule for this type of question. I need it for my class. Thank you.

Is this an accidental double-post? 2) is correct. The subject of the verb is "mother." Recasting the sentence into the active voice you get, "Your mother is interested in what kinds of things." Then it becomes apparent that "kinds of things" is the object, and therefore doesn't determine the verb case.

1 Reply

@FBM,

Thank you for the quick reply.

So does that mean that we also say" What kinds of things upsets your child?"
and not "What kinds of things upset your child?"

1 Reply

@marsce,

marsce wrote:

Thank you for the quick reply.

So does that mean that we also say" What kinds of things upsets your child?"
and not "What kinds of things upset your child?"

You're very welcome. No, because "your child" is committed to the object position. The child is not doing the action in the verb "upset." It is receiving that action.

1 Reply

@FBM,

Hi, I'm sorry We're still confused. How do we know which is the subject and the object in questions?

i.e.
1) What kinds of clothes are your sister into? (Jeans and sneakers are what she's into) vs What kinds of clothes is your sister into? (She's into jeans and sneakers).

2) What kinds of things gross your mother out? vs What kinds of things grosses your mother out?

3 Replies

@marsce,

marsce wrote:

Hi, I'm sorry We're still confused. How do we know which is the subject and the object in the questions?

i.e.
1) What kinds of clothes are your sister into? (Jeans and sneakers are what she's into) vs What kinds of clothes is your sister into? (She's into jeans and sneakers).

2) What kinds of things gross your mother out? vs What kinds of things grosses your mother out?

In the questions with the verb "be" the following nouns are the subjects. The nouns are doing the action of "being."

In the other questions the subjects are the objects of the verbs.

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@marsce,

marsce wrote:

Hi, I'm sorry We're still confused. How do we know which is the subject and the object in questions?

i.e.
1) What kinds of clothes are your sister into? (Jeans and sneakers are what she's into) vs What kinds of clothes is your sister into? (She's into jeans and sneakers).

2) What kinds of things gross your mother out? vs What kinds of things grosses your mother out?

If the verb of a sentence is in the passive voice, change it to the active voice. That should clear things up quite nicely.

Your sister is into...
Things gross out...

1 Reply

@marsce,

Those are kind of weird constructions, and that's probably why it's a bit confusing. What kinds of clothes is your sister into is asking about an action by your sister. The verb modifies the singular noun, sister.

0 Replies

@FBM,

I understand this should be "What is your mother good at?" but we can't agree among ourselves when there's a word between the question word and the verb such as "What things is/are your mother good at?"...This structure is about the same as kinds of things...There are 2 possible answers: a) My mother is good at swimming and volleyball. b) Swimming and volleyball are things that my mother is good at

1 Reply

@marsce,

marsce wrote:

I understand this should be "What is your mother good at?" but we can't agree among ourselves when there's a word between the question word and the verb such as "What things is/are your mother good at?"...This structure is about the same as kinds of things...There are 2 possible answers: a) My mother is good at swimming and volleyball. b) Swimming and volleyball are things that my mother is good at

Both of those are correct. Just focus on the verb in the active voice and ask yourself "Who or what is doing that?" In the case of the copula (being verb), follow the same principle. Who or what has the qualities being attributed?

Keep in mind that the verb in the relative clause is governed by its own subject, and neither the subject nor the verb of the clause can be the main subject/verb of the sentence.

1 Reply

@FBM,

So you mean to say..."What things IS your mother good at?"; "What questions IS your daughter confused about?"; "What crackers IS your puppy allergic to?"; "What matters IS your grandmother worried about?"

1 Reply

@marsce,

marsce wrote:

So you mean to say..."What things IS your mother good at?"; "What questions IS your daughter confused about?"; "What crackers IS your puppy allergic to?"; "What matters IS your grandmother worried about?"

Try: Your mother is good at what things? Your daughter is confused about what questions? etc. Make the doer of the action the subject of the sentence. "What" is not the doer of anything.

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What kinds of things are your mother interested in?

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