Which sentence is correct… “All I want IS French fries”, or “All I want ARE French fries” In sentenc

Which sentence is correct… “All I want IS French fries”, or “All I want ARE French fries”? In sentences with phrases like “all I want” and “what I want” and plural nouns, should the verb “to be” agree with “all I want” and “what I want”, or the plural noun that comes after it? Watch the whole video to find the answers to these questions, and keep reading for more information about this tricky grammar point and examples!

As I explain in the video, it is possible to use both a singular verb AND a plural verb in sentences like this, but native speakers (at least in American English) tend to prefer using the singular verb “is” with both singular AND plural nouns. This means that you’re likely to hear or see sentences like these:

When I drive on that road, all I see is farms.
I never told him that what I really wanted was new shoes.
The only thing she didn’t have in life was friends.
What I asked for was more chips and a beer.

You might hear a sentence like “All I see ARE farms” in everyday spoken English (and there are plenty of native speakers who would tell you that this is the correct way to say it), but just keep in mind that using a singular form of “to be” like “is”, “was”, and “has been” is both very common and generally preferred over plural verbs in this construction.

The reason for this is that, when cleft sentence phrases like “what I want” and “all I need” are placed before verbs, they are considered singular subjects. And most of the time in English, a verb has to agree with the subject that comes before it, not what comes after it. This rule doesn’t always apply in languages that have a more flexible word order like Spanish, but in English, it’s a rule that most native speakers obey without even thinking about it.

Does your native language have this same problem? And if it does, would you use a singular verb like “is” or a plural verb like “are” in this case? Let me know in the comments below! 😊

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