Jose Carillo's English Forum

English Grammar and Usage Problems => Badly Written, Badly Spoken => Topic started by: Miss Mae on March 14, 2012, 02:43:41 PM

Title: The Essence of Things
Post by: Miss Mae on March 14, 2012, 02:43:41 PM

"What is essential are the things that money cannot buy."

While that statement is true and I support the person who said this in a televised interview yesterday, I couldn't feel good with her words. Shouldn't it be "What is essential is the thing that money cannot buy"?

Title: Re: The Essence of Things
Post by: Joe Carillo on March 15, 2012, 11:42:45 PM

The original sentence, “What is essential are the things that money cannot buy,” is grammatically airtight. Keep in mind that the subject of the sentence is not “essential,” which is an adjective complement, but the whole pronoun phrase “what is essential,” which is notionally plural because it refers to the plural form phrase “the things that money cannot buy.” The correct linking verb for that sentence is therefore the plural “are” and not the singular “is.”

Your suggested revision of that sentence, “What is essential is the thing that money cannot buy,” distorts the sense of the statement by unilaterally changing the plural “things” to the singular “things.” Such changes of factual elements should be avoided when attempting to correct wrong grammar in sentences.

Title: Re: The Essence of Things
Post by: Miss Mae on March 19, 2012, 07:37:19 PM

:-[

Thank you, Sir.