"is" or "are"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1
  1. Which of the following people is allowed to participate in the Keeper Experience?
  2. Which of the following people are allowed to participate in the Keeper Experience?

Which sentence’s correct, 2 or 1?

Thanks

2

Both are possible.

If only one of the people from the group can participate:
Which (one) is allowed.

If two or more people from the group can participate:
Which (ones) are allowed.

This is incorrect:
Which sentence’s correct …

is cannot be abbreviated to 's here.
Which sentence is correct …

3

Which sentence is correct, 2 or 1?

Beeesneees, is this sentence correct?

4

The usual order would be ‘1 or 2’ but it’s okay.

5

Why “is” here can not be abbreviated?

Thanks

6

This is also wrong:
Why “is” here can not be abbreviated?
and should be
“Why is ‘is’ not abbreviated here?”

“Is” is only contracted with certain phrases, and 'which +noun’s… ’ is not one of them. Sorry I can’t be more precise than that. I presume it is to do with confusing the contracted ‘is’ with the possessive apostrophe -s

7

Please correct the sentences below.

  1. Please let me know which of these sentences is correct. (I expect one of them only)
  2. Please let me know which of these sentences are correct. (I expect more than one of them)
  3. Which of these sentences is correct?
  4. Which of these sentences are correct?
  5. Are any of these sentences correct?
  6. Is any of these sentences correct?
  7. Why can “is” here not be abbreviated?
  8. Why can “is” not be abbreviated here?
  9. Why can’t “is” here be abbreviated?
  10. Why can’t “is” be abbreviated here?
  11. Please let me know how many of these sentences are correct.
  12. How many of these sentences are correct?

Thanks

8

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Beeesneees:

I found E2e4’s question very intriguing yesterday. I woke up this morning and ran to my computer to see what answers had come in.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure that I have heard sentences such as:

Which car’s yours? (Which car is yours?)
Which country’s the richest? (Which country is the richest?)
Which helpline’s the best? (Which helpline is the best? Answer: English-test.net.)

Of course, those sentences are inelegant and learners are advised not to use them (certainly not in writing). But am I correct in thinking that native speakers (in their rush to speak fast) might use such sentences?

I was just wondering: Maybe “Which sentence’s correct, 1 or 2” is to be avoided because the listener might at first think that the speaker was saying “sentences” (the plural of “sentence”).

James

9

Hello, James,
The matter was discussed in the net:
“What is the grammar rule for using 's as the contraction for “is” ? Can you use it after any noun? …

  1. Mike’s a nice guy.
  2. Red’s my favorite color.
  3. My right hand’s bigger than my left one.
    Can you use it after other kinds of words?”
    “ Any noun that is followed by is can be made into a contraction, but sometimes that can cause awkward pronunciation. “Running’s fun,” is grammatically correct, but it’s not that easy to say, so people usually will say, “Running is fun.” Usually nouns are the only words that come before “is,” but in the occasions when another type of word is used, you should say “is.” Contractions should not be used in formal writing at all.”
    answers.yahoo.com/question/index … 509AAz63mE
    –I believe it’s a case when you can apply ‘Everything’s good in moderation’ rule.
10

Thank you, Eugene, for that very helpful information.