Help me on this Enghlish grammar ?

Question

Complete the sentence with the verb provided :

"who ... (be) the three greatest artists of the 20th century ?"

"who are the three greatest artists of the 20th century ?"

and

"who were the three greatest artists of the 20th century ?"

Which is the correct answer ?

Answer 1

yeap!

they´re right...

down there...

=D

Answer 2

Either one is correct.

In the first one, you can say "who are the 3 greatest..." because the 20th century is past, and there are a limited number of great artists, and they will remain so until today.

In the second one, you can also say "who were the 3 greatest...." because the 20th century is past, and leave it at that.

Answer 3

of course its "were" cuz its talking bout the past (the 20th century) :P

Answer 4

either.

If this is a poll from the 20th century, it's were. If this is a poll from current time, it's are. simple present tense can be used to describe the "definite and eternal truth".

So you need to figure out in which unit you're learning about this. Are they teaching you past tense or are they teaching you the "truth" part?

Answer 5

"Were" (Past tense)

"Who were the three greatest artists of the 20th century?"  is the best answer as it refers to the past (the 20th century).