Which verb do I use in: “All you need in life is/are coffee and good grammar”?

Question

Should I use 'is' or 'are' in the sentence below?

All you need in life is/are coffee and good grammar.

This question is different from Agreement in "[Singular Noun] Is/Are [Plural Noun]"? because that question doesn't deal with what verb agreement to use in sentences like this where the subject is "all" (which can be singular, as in "All is well", or plural, as in "All are alike").

Sorry that this was marked as a duplicate. The duplicate is marked certainly doesn't answer your question as indefinite pronouns like "all" can be tricky when it comes to verb agreement. http://www.write.com/writing-guides/general-writing/grammar/indefinite-pronouns/ has a good article on indefinite pronouns. All falls under the category of indefinte pronouns that can be either singular or plural. Because you are talking about multiple things in this case, you would use the plural "are." You could rephrase the sentence to get, "All of the things you need in life are coffee and good grammar." — Jonathan Harbaugh, Dec 17 '17 at 19:13
To add on to my previous comment, I added "of the things" there to have a prepositional phrase that has a plural object in it. That gives a better picture of why "are" should be used. — Jonathan Harbaugh, Dec 17 '17 at 19:17
I would use is, but I wouldn't find anything odd about are. — Colin Fine, Dec 17 '17 at 21:46
The duplicate doesn't answer this question but it has been asked a zillion times already. I'll try to find a better question — Mari-Lou A, Dec 17 '17 at 21:47
Thank you for your help. I'm giving a present to my English teacher that loves coffee and is a grammar freak so it needed to be perfect. — Kathleen Hunter, Dec 17 '17 at 21:49
I agree that this is not a duplicate of the linked question, and I've edited the post a bit to explain the reason why (as I see it); I hope you don't mind, kathleen hunter. A similar question was asked before, but unfortunately it didn't get any answers: Subject-Verb agreement in sentences with “all I see,” “all he hears,” etc. — herisson, Dec 17 '17 at 21:51
Related: 1 Is this sentence grammatical: “all there is, are idiolects?” 2 All I can think about is vs all I can think about are 3 “When all you hear is fear and lies” — Mari-Lou A, Dec 17 '17 at 21:51
4 Subject-Verb agreement in sentences with “all I see,” “all he hears,” etc, 5 Which is correct: “All the media is” or “all the media are”? — Mari-Lou A, Dec 17 '17 at 22:02
If you were to verbalize "why" you cannot decide which verb is best to use that would help tremendously to reopen the question. It's not enough to shout your question is different. — Mari-Lou A, Dec 17 '17 at 22:13

Which verb do I use in: “All you need in life is/are coffee and good grammar”?

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