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In the following statement, which should be used: is or are? I personally think is, but my boss put are, and I don't want to correct him if I am not correct.

Start dining with us. All you'll have to gain are points.

or

Start dining with us. All you'll have to gain is points.

I think the is is pertaining to "gain" which is not plural, and therefore is should be used. But I think the argument could also be made that is pertaining to "points" which is plural, and therefore are should be used.

Fiksdal
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user199533
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1 Answers1

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All you'll have to gain is points.

This is correct. As you say, is pertains to the "that which you'll have to gain", not to the points.

Consider the following sentence:

All you have to gain is your voice and overall health.

This is correct. Using the word are there would clearly be wrong. This is because is pertains to "all you have to gain", not the two objects that follow.

How to prove it? Alright, try a web search for "have to do is" (in quotes), and you get 136,000,000 results. A look at the list shows the sort of construct we have been discussing here.

Then, try googling "have to do are" (again in quotes). For one thing, you get much fewer results. But more importantly, if you look at the results you won't see any that are the type of construct we have discussed. Instead, you'll see sentences like:

The main things you have to do are:

So here the noun (things) are is referring to is already pluralized. That's why we have are instead of is.

Look through the results in the second Google link. You won't find any uses of are in the type of sentence you refer to. (Or, if you find one or two, it will be by someone using faulty English.)

Finally, I think the whole sentence is a bit weird. I would probably post a new question asking if the sentence itself makes sense in context.

Fiksdal
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  • It's a promotion for a restaurant within a Hilton hotel, in which they will receive Hilton Honors Points in exchange for dining in our restaurant. – user199533 Oct 05 '16 at 20:58
  • @user199533 That's what I thought. However, I removed that part of the answer. For one thing, I'm not quite sure. Secondly, you didn't really ask about that in the question. However, I actually recommend that you ask that as a new question. (Whether the sentence itself makes sense, that is.) – Fiksdal Oct 05 '16 at 21:01
  • thank you. The wording of the pitch itself was done by my boss, so I am not comfortable telling him to change it altogether, just wanted to point out his grammatical error of using the word ARE. I know it's not a super catchy phrase. Of course they have more to gain than just points, like a great dinner! But I'm not going to be the one to speak up on that point. – user199533 Oct 05 '16 at 21:02
  • @user199533 Hmmmm. Even if you don't feel comfortable confronting your boss, you might want to ask it here anyway, just so you know. If you're going to make an advertisement with bad language, you should at least know about it yourself. Regarding workplace dynamics (not language), there's a site called The Workplace where you can get some great advice. By the way, I'm curious, where in the world are you? – Fiksdal Oct 05 '16 at 21:05
  • United States, Oregon – user199533 Oct 05 '16 at 21:15
  • @user199533 Alright. I think it's an interesting case. If you don't ask about the advertisement sentence itself, I will probably ask it myself! Also, I think you sort of have a duty to discuss this with your boss, but that is a question for The Workplace. And, of course, you should be absolutely sure about the language aspects prior to discussing it with your boss. – Fiksdal Oct 05 '16 at 21:19
  • Are you claiming that strings consisting of 'all' followed by a that-clause may not take plural agreement? – Edwin Ashworth Oct 06 '16 at 00:17
  • @EdwinAshworth No. Not claiming that. – Fiksdal Oct 06 '16 at 08:46
  • Your 'proof' example does not adequately match the original. 'All you have to do is' will almost always be followed by 'to try your best' etc or a to-deleted version 'try your best' etc. Roger Woodham, in an answer at the BBC World Service Grammar site, says 'All is more often used with plural verb forms, though sometimes it is used with singular verbs. This happens when we are referring to all as a totality of items under consideration. Here, 'all' is close in meaning to 'everything' [/ 'the only thing'].' – Edwin Ashworth Oct 06 '16 at 10:51
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    @EdwinAshworth Normally, I'd suggest you post your own answer to help the OP, but that is of course not possible here. I give you carte blanche to improve this answer as you see fit. If you believe the answer is non-salvagable, we may also delete it. Please keep me updated. – Fiksdal Oct 06 '16 at 10:55