which is correct

Hi, which is right?

All he writes is stories about war

All he writes are stories about war


Thanks

The first one is right because the subject "all he writes" is singular.

But 'all' can be plural too, yes?

Not in this case.

The correct sentence is "All he writes are stories about war."

I will have to let the grammar experts fight over why but no native speaker would ever use the first sentence except as a joke.

You'll find that even native speakers sometimes stumble over situations like this! I could talk myself into logically picking either one, and both sound clumsy....

<<The correct sentence is "All he writes are stories about war.">>

Very interesting RayH! I thought both could be used and sounded fine... kind of. This reminds me of a question: would native speakers (Americans) use the singular or the plural in cases like this?

The problem is those people who keep supporting him.
The problem are all those people keep supporting him.

I think both could do, depending on what you have in mind, what you feel like stressing, etc., although I would tend to use the plural.

how is


all of you is going to follow me

all of them is fun

Johnny,

The problem is those people who keep supporting him.
The problem are all those people keep supporting him.

I have no problem with the first example. I'm not so sure about the second.
I think I'm more comfortable with it like this:

The problem are all those people *who* keep supporting him.

As you suggest, the situation would have to be right and it would have to be said with the right emphasis.

All he writes is stories about war

All he writes are stories about war

I am not a native speaker and as such I always had to pay attention to this point. I've constantly heard the first one

<<The problem are all those people *who* keep supporting him.>>

Damn typos and distraction, lol! Sorry, I meant to write:

The problem is those people who keep supporting him.
The problem are those people who keep supporting him.

So you would say both are acceptable to you? I would accept both, but I tend to use the plural.
If I take away the relative pronoun "who" (like I did by mistake), then the meaning and the structure change, and I'd only use the singular of course (The problem is those people keep supporting him), since it's like saying "The fact is...". But that was a mistake, sorry, so the sentences I was interested in are the ones I rewrote above. Thanks.

It just depends on if the subject of the verb is 'problem' or 'people' so both are correct depending on the context.