Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

Which end is up?
Verbosity about verbs: The big blunders

COMPLEMENTS OF THE VERB OR THE CHEF

Which of the following sentences is correct?

A good source of beta-carotene is carrots.

Carrots are a good source of beta-carotene.

Linking verbs are those that are not complete within themselves. They simply serve as a bridge, linking the subject to the idea on the other side. Sentences with linking verbs (is, are, was, were, become, appears, seems, sounds, smells) sometimes have a plural subject and a singular verb or vice versa. In those cases, always make the verb agree with the subject, not the complement.

So both sentences above are correct: “A good source is …” and “Carrots are …”

Another example:

Correct:

Hunting and golfing appear to be his retirement goal. (plural)

Correct:

His retirement goal appears to be hunting and golfing. (singular)

The common mistake with such sentences is making a U-turn before choosing the verb. That is, people think faster than they speak. So they speed to the end of the sentence, hear the plural complement, back up mentally, and insert a plural verb. Illegal turn.

If the sentence sounds strange with a plural on one end as subject and a singular on the other as complement, recast it so that the two ends “balance” as either plurals or singulars.

Other examples:

Laptops are our hottest products for the season.

Our hottest product for the season is the laptop.

Jamale Jackson and Beulah Brownwood appear to be the winning team.

The winning team appears to be Jamale Jackson and Beulah Brownwood.

Memory tip

Visualize these sentences as those one-way entrance gates at rental car lots, where the sign reads: “Do not back up. Backing up will cause severe injury to tires.” Start at one end of an idea and drive to the other end, making the subject and verb match as you go. If you drive to the end and find a plural noun, and then try to back up and change the verb to a plural, you’ll cause serious injury to your sentence.