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Is it or are they?
Message de carobd posté le 12-11-2010 à 22:23:07 (S | E | F)
Good evening,
Which of these two sentences is correct?
Is it a witch and a broom?
Are they a witch and a broom? Thank you.
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Edited by lucile83 on 12-11-2010 22:26
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Message de carobd posté le 12-11-2010 à 22:23:07 (S | E | F)
Good evening,
Which of these two sentences is correct?
Is it a witch and a broom?
Are they a witch and a broom? Thank you.
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Edited by lucile83 on 12-11-2010 22:26
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Réponse: Is it or are they? de gerondif, postée le 12-11-2010 à 22:58:23 (S | E)
Bonsoir,
la deuxième semble plus logique, (bien que, comme le souligne Lucile dans le post suivant, on peut être attiré par le premier singulier et garder "Is it a witch and a broom ?" au singulier)
Are they a witch and a broom? Mais je préférerais montrer les objets et dire:
Are these a witch and a broom ? si vous les montrez près.
Are those a witch and a broom? si vous les montrez loin.
Si je montre deux objets, je dirai: Are these a pen and a rubber ?
Si je montre un humain et un objet, j'aurai tendance à faire deux questions:
Is this a witch ? Is that a broom ?
Il serait plus élégant de dire:
Is this a witch on a broom ?
Is this a witch holding a broom ?
Is this a witch riding her broom ?
Is this a witch with a broom ? parce que la juxtaposition d'un être vivant et d'un objet sur le même plan dans votre description fait bizarre. Comme le dit Lucile, nous sommes gênés par la tournure de phrase .
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Modifié par gerondif le 12-11-2010 23:16
Réponse: Is it or are they? de lucile83, postée le 12-11-2010 à 23:00:29 (S | E)
Hello,
Grammaticalement parlant on dira
is it + singulier
are they + pluriel
en prenant en compte l'élément qui suit.Ce sera le même principe que dans ce test avec there is/ are
Lien Internet
Maintenant, est-ce qu'on dira de cette façon? je penche plutôt pour une question du style:
can you see a witch and a broom?
which one is the witch?
where is the witch?
etc...ou même:
is there a witch and a broom?
Best wishes!
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Modifié par lucile83 le 12-11-2010 23:02
On a posté en même temps gerondif avec une petite divergence à cause du fait qu'au fond on ne posera pas ce genre de question! donc...personnellement je ne sais pas trop comment on peut dire et je me suis référèe à there is/there are.
Réponse: Is it or are they? de notrepere, postée le 13-11-2010 à 01:36:12 (S | E)
Hello!La règle dit qu'on accorde le verbe avec l'élément le plus proche (comme il est dit dans le lien que lucile vous a donné):
Is it a witch and a broom?
Is it a monkey and a banana?
Is it an apple and some bananas?
Mais, dans le deuxième exemple, c'est un peu bizarre:
Are they witches and a broom?
This would be better:
Are they witches on their brooms?
Cordialement
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Modifié par lucile83 le 13-11-2010 17:01
Réponse: Is it or are they? de may, postée le 13-11-2010 à 02:29:59 (S | E)
Bonsoir
Is it a monkey and a banana?
I thought it sounds much better like this:
Is it a monkey eating a banana?
Doesn't it?
Good night,
Réponse: Is it or are they? de carobd, postée le 13-11-2010 à 16:33:44 (S | E)
I should have rather given a better explanation than I did.
In fact, this is a game we play in the classroom.
Some pictures on the blackboard (a witch, a broom, a bat, a ghost...)
You tell the pupils " Close your eyes!" you hide one picture and say :
Open your eyes! Then you ask: What's missing?
The pupils say: Is it the witch?Is it the broom? is it... ( est-ce que
c'est...)
Then, You hide two or three pictures.
What is the right question? Is it the witch and the broom? Or Are they the
witch and the broom? (est-ce que ce sont...).Thank you.
Réponse: Is it or are they? de may, postée le 13-11-2010 à 16:46:25 (S | E)
Bonjour
Well, thank you for the precision. So, I think the question is better put in plural form because of the fact you hide two or three pictures at the same time.
Donc, Are they the witch and the broom? is fine for me.
Cordially,
Réponse: Is it or are they? de lucile83, postée le 13-11-2010 à 17:01:06 (S | E)
Hello carobd,
Thanks for your better explanation!
In my opinion the question should be :
is it the witch and the broom?
But it still sounds strange to me.
Just an idea...
In 30 seconds it is possible to make them learn:
How many pictures are missing? ...1...2...3
Which picture is missing? / which pictures are missing?
The picture of the broom is missing.
The pictures of the witch and of the broom are missing.
Then you can change and hide the cat, the mouse etc...you will be busy with those questions and answers, and they love it!
Réponse: Is it or are they? de carobd, postée le 13-11-2010 à 17:10:05 (S | E)
Ok thanks a lot. See you...
Réponse: Is it or are they? de notrepere, postée le 13-11-2010 à 17:21:53 (S | E)
Hello!I deleted my earlier post because I can't find a specific example or rule online. However, the reason I would say "is it" is because it is a yes or no question.
Is it the witch and the broom? Yes.
Yes, it is the witch and the broom.
And since the objects themselves are "singular" (even though they may contain plural pictures), I believe they should still be treated as singular objects.
Is is the monkeys and the broom? No.
No, it isn't the monkeys nor the broom.
I will continue to try to find a rule for this since I myself am curious.
Réponse: Is it or are they? de traviskidd, postée le 13-11-2010 à 18:04:04 (S | E)
Hello.
"It is" can be used to announce the presence of one or more things. "It" is used in an impersonal sense, and doesn't (grammatically) represent the things themselves.
Look! It's two witches flying on brooms!
See you.
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