-1

This is the quote I'm having trouble with.

Help me prioritize my tasks. By "tasks," what I really mean is programming languages.

I'm particularly confused in the line where I say, "what I really mean is programming languages." It just feels stilted to say "what I really mean are programming languages," since the initial declaration of what is being referred to here was singular. Did I do it right, or am I just being paranoid?

David Pasion
  • 1
  • 1
  • 6
    Subject agreement has to be with the subject. And the subject here, in a Wh-cleft sentence, is a clause: what I really mean. All clauses are automatically singular, by default. It should feel stilted to say are here; in fact, it's ungramamtical. – John Lawler Apr 25 '21 at 15:40
  • A word-as-a-word is a singular entity taking singular agreement. 'Men are coming over the hill.' but 'Men is a three-letter word.' ... 'What tasks means [in this instance] is ....' // '... my intended sense of tasks here is ....' – Edwin Ashworth Apr 26 '21 at 11:50

1 Answers1

-1

... what I really mean is programming languages.

This is a pseudo-cleft construction, where the subject (in bold) is a noun phrase in a 'fused' relative construction.

It can be paraphrased as "that which I really mean", where singular agreement is clearly appropriate.

Generally, the verb agrees with the head of the subject for number purposes, but where the predicate includes a predicative, there are many instances where predicate and predicand differ in grammatical number, for example:

The only thing we need now is some new curtains.

The major asset of the team is its word-class opening bowlers.

BillJ
  • 12,832