which sentence is correct?

[flowerseed]

Teenagers smoking in public areas is a common sight.

Teenagers smoking inpublic areas are a common sight.


Which one is correct ? If both are, then which one is better ? Thanks a million!

[MashUK]

Teenagers smoking in public areas is a common sight.

Teenagers smoking inpublic areas are a common sight.


Which one is correct ? If both are, then which one is better ? Thanks a million!

Hi,
Teenagers smoking in public areas is a common sight-correct.
Because in terms of parts of the sentence, "teenagers smoking in public areas" is the subject of the sentence, whereas "is a common sight" is the predicate. We can expand "teenagers..." by "the fact that teenagers...", where "the fact" should agree with the predicate of the sentence.

Regards,
Maria

[David L.]

Smoking is not permitted except in designated areas.

'smoking' is a verbal noun and takes the singular verb 'is'

So:
Teenagers (who engage in ) smoking is a common sight.