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"The only thing holding me back is the available colours."

or

"The only thing holding me back are the available colours."

It seems to me like a glitch either way. I slightly favour the second one though.

tchrist
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notAnonymousAnymore
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    I believe the second should be "The only things ..." Does that sound better? – cole Oct 24 '15 at 17:58
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    There's only one thing holding you back -- the collective availability of colors. The verb needs to be singular. – deadrat Oct 24 '15 at 18:00
  • Why would you favor the second one, please? Any reason why? I am curious. –  Oct 24 '15 at 18:01
  • Assuming you get subject/verb agreement, the choice is your call. Using "is" means you're regarding the colors as an indivisible group, while "are" suggests you're considering them individually. – Hot Licks Oct 24 '15 at 18:45
  • This is basic grammar, and far too trivial for this site. You might try [ell.se]. It is also a duplicate of http://english.stackexchange.com/q/17766 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/60888 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/165168 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/23685 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/167271 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/26402 – tchrist Oct 24 '15 at 19:37

2 Answers2

2

The rule is simple. The verb agrees with the subject of the sentence.

The only thing...is... [correct]

The only thing...are... [incorrect]

chasly - supports Monica
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  • Please do not answer duplicates. – tchrist Oct 24 '15 at 19:23
  • That's a fair comment. If you know of a duplicate it helps if you indicate it. – chasly - supports Monica Oct 24 '15 at 19:26
  • It isn't personal: I would say the same to anyone who did this. Please don't answer duplicates, or trivial proofreading questions that show no research. http://english.stackexchange.com/q/17766 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/60888 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/165168 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/23685 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/167271 http://english.stackexchange.com/q/26402 – tchrist Oct 24 '15 at 19:37
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    The personal part was the name-calling. If you are the age you appear to be from your bio, you should have grown out of that by now. I see that has been deleted now. – chasly - supports Monica Oct 24 '15 at 22:43
0

You can say 'The only thing is' or 'The only things are', but you can not say 'the only thing are'

Aleko
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