tl;dr Which is the appropriate verb in the following sentence?
Apparently, 2,000 steps [is/are] hazardous to my sleep.
I use a sleep app that calculates a (dubious) sleep quality value and tracks that value against different daily metrics, one of which is steps taken.
In the sentence I wrote above, should the verb be is or are? It would be is if I rewrote it:
Apparently, taking 2,000 steps is hazardous to my sleep.
or
Apparently, the taking of 2,000 steps is hazardous to my sleep.
I think the preceding verb/verb-phrase is implied, but I'm unsure.
If it's not, there's another thing to consider. Are the 2,000 steps taken as a whole or not?
It should be are if each individual step of those 2,000 is hazardous.
If they're a group of steps--as taking 1,000 or 3,000 steps evidently improves my sleep--I think, even though the group isn't explicitly stated, that it should still be is, but again, I am unsure.
What's the Stack Exchange consensus?
Also, I'm curious, if I did reword it to simply "taking 2,000 steps", what is the subject of the sentence? "Me"? i.e.
Apparently, (me) taking 2,000 steps is hazardous to my health.
(I can make this a separate question if y'all think I should.)
