Grammar! I need help!? "are" or "is"?

Question

I've been writing for a vast portion of my life and continuously I stumble across a case where "are" and "is" both sound appropriate for the sentence. Can someone explain too me the grammatically correct way to use each?

Answer 1

Usually the problem is identify the subject of the verb represented by "is" or "are" especially when there are a lot of modifying phrases between the two.  "is" is used for singular and "are" for plural.

  examples

The commission for the Leagues of State Attorney Generals of the Western States is meeting in Dallas.   "Is" is used because commission is singular (only one commission) even though it is made of multiple people and Generals and States are plural (they are part of a title)

  American workers of the middle class who own a home and a car are not likely to have trouble getting a loan.  "Are" is used because because workers is plural and class, home, and car are single but in phrases and clauses.

P.S.   By the the way, in this question "too" should be "to".  "too" means "also"

Answer 2

"Are" is plural. "Is" is singular.

Those words ARE part of the English language. Each one IS part of the English language.

They are both conjugations of the basic verb "to be", and are both present tense.

We are going, they are going, he is going, she is going.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

Singular subject = is

Plural subject or compound subject = are

ONE of my friends IS ....  don't get fooled by the plural noun near the verb.  The subject is really ONE.

The manager and the clerks ARE ...  compound subject

Answer 4

Generally, 'is' is used in the singular and 'are' in the plural.

E.g. The child is going to school

       The children are going to school

'Are' is also used with 'you', whether it's a singular or plural 'you.'

E.g. You are a nice person

      You are a nice group of people

Hope that helps. If you have a particular example you're not sure of, write it down and I'll try and explain which one to use for that. xx

(P.S. You've written the wrong 'too' in your question. Was that just a slip of the keys or are you also not sure which one to use, 'to' or 'too?')

Answer 5

are is when you are talking about more than one thing (e.g. they ARE playing soccer - the "they" is more than one thing)

is, is when you are talking about only on thing (e.g the cat IS on the mat - the "cat" is only one cat)

its kinda confusing. but you'll get there. it was confusing for me too.

Answer 6

when u use a singular expression.. use ;is; and if plural ;are;... in cases like' A group of expressions ...", use is since group os singular even tho it contains many things inside it.....

Answer 7

Are is used when u are refering to more than one person.such as "we are", "they are".one exceptional case is when u use the word "you".u can't say "you is..." but instead "you are...". as for "is", it refers to one person only.such as "he is", "she is".hope this helps u.

Answer 8

Well u use 'are' if ur referring to the plural form and u use 'is' if u referring to a singular form.  Eg s of 'are'.  they are,  we are , the cabs in the city ARE not reliable etc u use are when ur referring to 2 or more persons or things .   Eg s of 'is' .  He is ,she is ,it is,

this particular cab that i took last night IS not reliable.