How to choose between singla or plural verb after "all'

[Anonymous]

The sentence is :

All we want is to be teated as normal people.

The question is :

Wht the verb is -IS , not -ARE?

Would you please tell me above it, thank you for your help.[/b]

 

[lucyarliwu]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

All we want is to be teated as normal people.


i think this sentence can be writen like this:

All that we want is to be teated as normal people.

And the word"all" is a special collective noun which is singular indeed just opposed to its surface implication, and we usually omit the word "that" behind it for simple, but if we add it "that",then it's obviously to see that the verb should be IS not ARE since "that" is singular!

I hope I made myself clear!
lucy

 

[MikeNewYork]

[No message]

 

[Tdol]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

All= everything in this sentence, so it is singular. All can be singular or plural:
All the money was taken.
All the guests were taken ill.
:lol:

 

[RonBee]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

The sentence is :

All we want is to be teated as normal people.

The question is :

Wht the verb is -IS , not -ARE?

Would you please tell me above it, thank you for your help.[/b]

In my opinion, want is the essential part of the subject, with All we modifying want. (You could also say, "All we want is to be teated as normal people.")

It is possible that somebody will disagree. :wink:

"All" is generally plural, with some exceptions. An example would be the sentence, "All is everything."

8)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Red, every time I post to this thread, I get an invalid session warning. I am trying this now.

[Edited to add: It seems to be OK, now.]

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

The sentence is :

All we want is to be teated as normal people.

The question is :

Wht the verb is -IS , not -ARE?

Would you please tell me above it, thank you for your help.[/b]

"All" is a pronoun in this sentence. This pronoun can be singular or plural depending on what it refers to. In general, when "all" refers to the totality of something, it is singular. When "all" refers to one or more individual items, it is plural. In your example, all refers to a specific desire, which is singular.

All of the cake was eaten. (the entire cake - singular)
All of the cakes were eaten. (more than one cake - plural)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

The sentence is :

All we want is to be teated as normal people.

The question is :

Wht the verb is -IS , not -ARE?

Would you please tell me above it, thank you for your help.[/b]

In my opinion, want is the essential part of the subject, with All we modifying want. (You could also say, "All we want is to be teated as normal people.")

It is possible that somebody will disagree. :wink:

"All" is generally plural, with some exceptions. An example would be the sentence, "All is everything."

8)

I have to disagree. "Want" is the verb of a relative clause in that sentence. The words "all we" do not modify that verb. This is really "All that we want", with "all" as a pronoun and "that we want" as a relative clause.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

All we want is to be teated as normal people.


i think this sentence can be writen like this:

All that we want is to be teated as normal people.

And the word"all" is a special collective noun which is singular indeed just opposed to its surface implication, and we usually omit the word "that" behind it for simple, but if we add it "that",then it's obviously to see that the verb should be IS not ARE since "that" is singular!

I hope I made myself clear!
lucy

Hi Lucy!

I agree with you that the "that" in the realtive clause is understood in this case. "All we want" = "all that we want".

However, I have to disagree with the remainder of your answer. "All" is a pronoun in that sentence, not a collective noun. The word "that", in this case, is a function word used to introduce a clause. It has no singular or plural and it certainly doesn't control the verb number.

 

[RonBee]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

The sentence is :

All we want is to be teated as normal people.

The question is :

Wht the verb is -IS , not -ARE?

Would you please tell me above it, thank you for your help.[/b]

In my opinion, want is the essential part of the subject, with All we modifying want. (You could also say, "All we want is to be teated as normal people.")

It is possible that somebody will disagree. :wink:

"All" is generally plural, with some exceptions. An example would be the sentence, "All is everything."

8)

I have to disagree. "Want" is the verb of a relative clause in that sentence. The words "all we" do not modify that verb. This is really "All that we want", with "all" as a pronoun and "that we want" as a relative clause.

You are probably right about the grammar. However, while you don't need all for that sentence to make sense, you do need want there. You could say, "What we want is to be teated as normal people." The "all" isn't needed at all.

8)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

"You are probably right about the grammar. However, while you don't need all for that sentence to make sense, you do need want there. You could say, "What we want is to be teated as normal people." The "all" isn't needed at all. "

Try it without the "what" or the "we". I have no idea how one ranks the importance of words in a sentence. :wink:

 

[RonBee]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

"You are probably right about the grammar. However, while you don't need all for that sentence to make sense, you do need want there. You could say, "What we want is to be teated as normal people." The "all" isn't needed at all. "

Try it without the "what" or the "we". I have no idea how one ranks the importance of words in a sentence. :wink:

We want to be treated like normal people. (While the same sentiment can be expressed without what, I don't know how you can do it without we. Indeed, I don't think it is possible to do it without we.

Surely the words that are essential for expressing the intended thought are more important in the sentence than those that are not essential for expressing the intended thought.

8)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

In nutrition, people always ask "Which is the most important nutrient."

The best answer is "the one in shortest supply".

 

[RonBee]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

In nutrition, people always ask "Which is the most important nutrient."

The best answer is "the one in shortest supply".

I am not sure why people ask which is the most important. Don't you need them all?

8)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

One needs them all. One cannot always get them all. :?

 

[dihen]

Re: How to choose between singla or plural verb after "

All we want is to be teated as normal people.
i think this sentence can be writen like this:
All that we want is to be teated as normal people.

Why not one of these? :

"We only want to be treated as normal people."
"We just want to be treated as normal people."
"We simply want to be treated as normal people."