Which of the following is correct? Please help me.
- My favourite fruit is apple.
- My favourite fruit is apples.
- My favourite fruit is an apple.
- My favourite fruit are apples.
I’d think,
My favourite fruit is apple. & My favourite fruit is apples. Or,
Apple is my favourite fruit. & Apples are my favourite fruit.
Number two and three are correct.
Then I would suggest “My favourite fruit is the apple” is better than “My favourite fruit is an apple”, and all are acceptable including #4.
Number one doesn’t work without the article. One cannot say my favorite vegetable is tomato. You need “a” or “the.”
I agree with you that “the” is a better choice than “an.”
Number four is not acceptable because “fruit” is singular; therefore, it cannot take the verb “are.”
I meant colloquially acceptable (#4). #1 is OK or alright to me as I’d think even apple could be used as a mass noun, such as:
There “apple” is an adjective used to describe a type of wood. It’s no different from this:
What is your favorite type of juice? My favorite is apple.
That is not a mass noun. In the context of the original example in this thread, an article would be required.
OK, I am convinced. You are right, Mordant. *My favourite fruit is apple. would be wrong. Thank you!
Such one on one argument is not really interesting. Let’s wait for other answers. In my opinion, number 4 is of course wrong by virtue of subject verb disagreement. Number 2 is the best of all to me. The remaining may cause confusion as they are not good or complete as you both said. Besides, why should we use the?
Generic usage. And I’d suggest ‘My favourite fruit is the apple.’ is the best for expressing the above meaning.
“My favourite fruit are apples”- since fruit here is the plural form, the example follows the pattern, say, My favourite animals are lions. Hence option 4 is perfectly fine.
“My favourite fruits are apples”,maybe, an attempt to be hypercorrect, with regard to subject-verb agreement, is only really likely in cases like My favourite fruits are apples and oranges.
If you wanted to use “are,” “fruits” would be your only option. “Fruit” will always take a singular verb. “Fruit” is like “furniture.” Note that you are comparing it with “My favorite animals are lions” and NOT “My favorite animal are lions,” which makes no sense. Using “fruit” with “are” is the equivalent of “My favorite animal are lions” or “My favorite music are pop.” “My favorite food are spaghetti,” for another example. As a native speaker, I can assure you that you will puzzle people with such sentences. Number four is not at all perfectly fine. In fact, it’s plainly wrong. One would NEVER say “My favorite vegetable are green beans.” If your subject is singular, you will almost always need a singular verb. “Fruit” is no exception.
‘Fruit’ has two plural forms - the more common fruit, as in the tree is pretty but its fruit are poisonous. And fruits, as in Mangoes and pineapples are tropical fruits.
I think, it deopends on what you take for subject in this sentence and what for object; and on the meaning one tries to point to.
In case you took apples for subject are is perfectly fine with fruit. "Apples are my favourite fruit.
Provided that “my favourite fuit” is the subject the singular verb form “is” were correct with apples.
“Fruit” has one plural form, “fruits.” “Fruit” is singular but can refer to a group, much like “team” or “family,” which also take the singular. If I have a large group of various fruits, I can refer to it as “the fruit,” but it will take a singular verb.
The fruit is going to be placed in a basket and sent to my mother.
That could refer to a group of bananas, oranges, apples, grapes, mangos, kiwis, etc.
Let me make it clear :
The correct sentence is : My favourite fruit is apples.
Is it the same—My favourite toys are toy cars.
I agree with you, Foah.
But my point was, in the occasional case where the subject is singular and the complement is plural, the verb agrees with the subject, not the complement. We say, my favourite meal is baked beans. Not - My favourite meal are baked beans. Hence, there is no subject-verb disagreement in “My favourite fruit are apples”
There IS a subject-verb disagreement. The subject, fruit, is singular, and yet you are using a plural verb. In the example for beans, you are using a singular verb with a singular noun, which is correct and different from what you are doing with fruit. Again, “fruit” is not plural. That would be like saying “My favorite hair style are curls” or “My favorite color are red.”
Fruit is a collective noun taking a singular verb: Fruit is good for you. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. The tree bears fruit (not fruits).
The plural fruits is used in talking about different types of fruit: oranges, apples and other fruits.
OK…I am off. Probably, if Alan disagrees with me I will delete all my previous posts and thus save my face.
At last, the correct sentences would be:
My favourite fruit is apples/the apple.
Apples are my favourite fruit.
Am I correct?