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I have already posted questions about wh-cleft verb agreement, but after having watched all the links you'd graciously provided, I was able to find no answer that'd explain which verb to use in this example.

  1. Who I've sold your cats are those people
  2. Who I've sold your cats is those people.
Mr realtor
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    Unfortunately, the examples are so far from idiomatic that they are wrong and unsalvageable without rewriting. – Greybeard Jan 08 '23 at 10:08
  • The noun people is plural, so the verb must be plural: “Those people who bought the cats are / were very trustworthy” is perfectly grammatical. – Mari-Lou A Jan 08 '23 at 11:21

1 Answers1

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According to The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (p1422) the relative lexeme who cannot be used in what it calls pseudo-clefts (also known as wh-clefts). So, the CGEL would claim that neither of your alternative sentences is acceptable.

This is the relevant extract from the CGEL's section on pseudo-clefts:

Range of relative lexemes

Not all relative lexemes are permitted in fused relatives, and hence in pseudo-clefts. Most importantly, who is excluded:

[30] *Who achieved the best result was Angela.

Instead we need an it-cleft (It was Angela who achieved the best result) or some other specifying clause (such as The one who achieved the best result was Angela.)

On this basis, your sentence could be rewritten as

It was those people to whom I've sold your cats.

This avoids the concord problem in your question.

Note that the star in *Who achieved the best result was Angela indicates ungrammaticality in the CGEL.

Shoe
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  • Does it mean that I can also say, "The ones whom I've sold your cats to are those people"? – Mr realtor Jan 08 '23 at 09:32
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    Yes, but if you are using the formal whom it is probably more consistent to pied-pipe to, i.e. "The ones to whom I've sold your cats are those people". In conversational English you could say: "The ones I've sold your cats to are those people." – Shoe Jan 08 '23 at 09:38
  • Also, 'It was those people whom I've sold/given your cats' (modelling on 'I've sold/given those people your cats') are ungrammatical. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 08 '23 at 16:22