Jeremy,

 

I prefer the singular verbs in (1-2).  "What" is the subject in both
cases, and, although the subject complement contains plural nouns, the
pseudo-clefted "what" seems to give them singular reference.  "The long
evenings and nights" and "the people who use abusive language in the
streets" are turned into objects of annoyance by the use of "what".
There are clear cases where wh-words have plural meaning, as in 

 

Who were the first three people you met on campus?

What were the things you saw on the sidewalk?

 

But in these the proximity of the plural NP to the wh-word is much
greater.  And proximity is an important factor in number agreement, as
in

 

Was Marie or her sons waiting for you?

Were Marie's sons or her daughter waiting for you?

 

In your sentences, "what" turns the plural nouns into a singular
meaning, treating them as a collective.

 

Herb Stahlke  

 

________________________________

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Day, Jeremy (Poland)
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 7:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Wh-clefting and verb agreement

 

I've been losing sleep recently over the following sentences, and I
wonder if the collective wisdom of ATEG might shed some light on the
problem:

1. What I do not like about winter is / are the long evenings and
nights.

2. What annoy(s) me most is / are the people who use abusive language in
the streets.

My native speaker instincts push me towards the plural verb forms ('are'
and 'annoy'), but would I then be violating some style rule? 

As far as I can see things, there are three ways of analysing this:

a) Some form of inversion, along the lines of 'On the table were some
glasses', so that the subjects are actually at the end of the sentences.

b) The possibility that wh-clauses and the word 'what' might be able to
assign plural number to the verb.

c) If wh-clauses and 'what' can't assign number, the subject complement
is somehow allowed to assign number instead.

In connection with hypothesis (b), I'm now worried about the following
question:

3. Q: What were on the table? A: Some glasses.

I will very much appreciate your comments.

Regards

Jeremy Day

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