It's you who is/are answering me

[ackeiyword]

Hi,

I keep having trouble with "cleft sentences" and those kinds of things. It's you who is /are... Tongue Tied [] Here are my guesses:

* It's me who is, needs, wants, goes, does...
* It's you who is, needs, wants, goes, does... (this is the singular you)
* It's him who is, needs, wants, goes, does...
* It's us who are, need, want, go, do...
* It's you who are, need, want, go, do... (this is the plural you)
* It's them who are, need, want, go, do...

You are free to give your opinions (well, as long as your opinions are right, hehehe
Thank you in advance.

[lauralie2]

Hello ackeiyword,

The variation you're having trouble understanding is notorious. Speakers differ on how they interpret the syntax here:

Group #1

• 
  
  • It is [you who are nice]. / You are nice.
    
    • 'are' agrees with 'you'
    
    
  • It is I who am nice. / I am nice.
  • It is he who is nice. / He is nice.
  • It is we who are nice. / We are nice.
  • It is they who are nice. / They are nice.
  
  

Group #2

• 
  
  • It is you [who is nice]. / ...who is nice.
    
    • 'is' agrees with 'who', which is by default singular in number.
    
    
  • It is me who is nice. / ...who is nice.
  • It is you who is nice./ ...who is nice.
  • It is him who is nice. / ...who is nice.
  • It is us who is nice. / ...who is nice.
  • It is them who is nice. /...who is nice.
    
    • Descriptively, the pattern we see is this. If the pronoun is in its object form (me, you, him, us, them), the verb is in third person singular (See also Akmajian (1970)).
    
    
  
  

[philo2009]

Hi,

I keep having trouble with "cleft sentences" and those kinds of things. It's you who is /are... Tongue Tied [] Here are my guesses:

* It's me who is, needs, wants, goes, does...
* It's you who is, needs, wants, goes, does... (this is the singular you)
* It's him who is, needs, wants, goes, does...
* It's us who are, need, want, go, do...
* It's you who are, need, want, go, do... (this is the plural you)
* It's them who are, need, want, go, do...

You are free to give your opinions (well, as long as your opinions are right, hehehe
Thank you in advance.

in careful usage, an English relative pronoun, in common with those of other Indo-european languages, takes the number and person of its antecedent. Hence

It is I who am...
It is you who are...
It is he who is...
It is we who are...
It is they who are...

and so forth.

[lauralie2]

in careful usage, an English relative pronoun, in common with those of other Indo-european languages, takes the number and person of its antecedent. Hence

It is I who am...
It is you who are...
It is he who is...
It is we who are...
It is they who are...

and so forth.

Group #1 subscriber?

[philo2009]

Group #1 subscriber?

Just a careful user!

[lauralie2]

Just a careful user!

Better than me. I choose not to use the construct.

[philo2009]

Better than me. I choose not to use the construct.

It's true that, particularly in daily speech, the "group 1" type of construction is very often avoided by means of I am the one who/that... etc., where the verb is automatically 3rd person.

In writing, however，I would have no hesitation at all in using the former type.

[lauralie2]

It's true that, particularly in daily speech, the "group 1" type of construction is very often avoided by means of I am the one who/that... etc., where the verb is automatically 3rd person.

Oh, yes! Mixed constructs coupled with the who/that variation. How dreadful. Open that can of worms...