I carved a sign and my wife says that the message does not sound grammatically correct. Can you help?
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Which part does she consider "incorrect"? The 'are'? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Dec 27 '20 at 18:07
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She says it should be - All you need IS – George Dec 27 '20 at 18:08
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4Does this answer your question? Correct usage for "all you need is/are..." Also this – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Dec 27 '20 at 18:10
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1Thank you Cascabel, but it does not answer my question – George Dec 27 '20 at 18:13
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1If you consider each element to be unique, then 'are; if you consider the elements to be one whole family, then "is". Just to be funny, maybe you could scratch a line through the "are" and write "is" to one side. A reminder forever of how to resolve a husband-wife dispute. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Dec 27 '20 at 18:16
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2Alternatively, you could scratch through Rita for an entirely different resolution of the husband-wife dispute. Slightly more seriously, I'd consider the inclusion of the ellipsis (...) as signifying that this is a list and so 'are' is the correct choice. – KillingTime Dec 27 '20 at 18:48
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Yes, your question is answered in broad at the duplicate. 'All you need are A, B, and C' when the components are considered as separate entities, but 'All you need is A, B, and C' when they are considered as a composite (eg 'my favourite meal is fish and chips'). Both are grammatical, though sometimes one is preferable. With your example, I'd say neither is incorrect (though I'd prefer 'are'). – Edwin Ashworth Dec 27 '20 at 19:19
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idle thought...since the schnauzer is not named, is this a veiled suggestion to get a dog? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Dec 27 '20 at 19:19
2 Answers
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The verb should agree with the subject. All can take a singular or plural agreement, depending on what all refers to:
All the pizza was eaten.
The thing that was eaten was the pizza.
All was eaten.
All the slices were eaten.
The things that were eaten were the slices.
All were eaten.
Similarly, both is and are work here:
All the company you need is Rita, George . . . and a Schnauzer.
The thing you need is Rita, George . . . and a Schnauzer.
All you need is Rita, George . . . and a Schnauzer.
All the companions you need are Rita, George . . . and a Schnauzer.
The things you need are Rita, George . . . and a Schnauzer.
All you need are Rita, George . . . and a Schnauzer.
As the article When the complement was roses attests, agreement is often an art—not a science.
Tinfoil Hat
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In English all can be singular or plural because of how it functions as a determiner (and not as a noun unto itself). In situations like these, where 'all' is the bare subject of a sentence, 'all is' sounds more natural than 'all are.' The top answer on this other discussion (on the ELL stackex) wrote out good examples comparing how 'is' and 'are' sound in various contexts when taking 'all' as their subject.
In your case, 'are' isn't wrong: you can analyze the sentence as Tinfoil Hat did in their latter three examples, and that's perfectly defensible. However, your wife is correct that 'is' happens to be more natural here: English speakers favor 'is' after plain 'all.' If it isn't too onerous to fix the sign or make a new one, I would do so.
