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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > is/are? ahhh!    

is/are? ahhh!



gapyear
China

is/are? ahhh!
 
hi everyone, just need some help from you amazing grammar teachers on this website! basically the question is: A basket of apples ______ (is/are) on the table. I think the answer is IS, I am a native speaker but never directly learnt the rules of grammar so I am not very confident in the answer! Any explanations on why the answer is IS or ARE? Hope you can be of help! Christmas Wishes!

16 Dec 2009      





puddyd
Oman

Is is correct
The rules are:
I - am
he, she , it - is
you , we , they - are
 
It �s know as the Verb to be and to go back to your question ,why?
Well a basket becomes �it � even though it is full of apples , it �s still  a basket of apples
I hope this is helpful.
Good luck
;o)

16 Dec 2009     



gapyear
China

thanks alot, you are very helpful! :)

16 Dec 2009     



bhau
India

The answer is is

as the object basket is emphasized and not the apples.

16 Dec 2009     



douglas
United States

The subject is singular (one basket), so "is" is correct.

16 Dec 2009     



alien boy
Japan

unless you �re a pirate... aaarrrr!

16 Dec 2009     



Carla Horne
United States

Hi,
 
 In reference to your sentence, it should be the following: "The basket of apples IS on the table."
 
What is bothering you is the prepositional phrase "of apples." The true subject is "basket," and it is singular. The objects of prepositional phrases are NEVER the subjects of the sentence.
 
Example: The hamper full of clothes and books IS still waiting to be delivered.
 
                                   Clothes, books = objects of the preposition of.
 
I hope this helps.
 
Carla

16 Dec 2009     



aquarius_gr
Greece

Exactly what Carla says .. beware of prepositional phrases. Students tend to miss the true subject of a phrase, which is a very common error.
A car with four passengers in it is in front of us.

19 Dec 2009     



suxanita
Portugal

Answer: Is
subject - a basket
 

23 Dec 2009