Thread: Is or are?
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Old 02-03-2012, 01:46 PM   #2
lila55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Penforhire View Post
I usually put my own two cents into answering grammar questions here but I'm curious about an example I stumbled over. Does this have a regional basis, is the text incorrect, or am I incorrect?

Here is the sentence which has me scratching my head -- "A good example are labels, a type of meta-data you can use to assign a colour to a piece of your draft."

I noticed this in section 2.1 of the user manual of the Windows version of Scrivener. I am thinking "are" in that sentence refers to the singular word "example" and therefore should be "is."

I know the author is from the U.K., as if "colour" wasn't enough of a hint. Is there some U.K. usage that is different from how I understand this grammar?

TIA
I am not a native speaker, but if you change the words in your sentence around, you would come up with: "Labels are a good example ... ". So to me "are" is referring to "labels" and therefore should be plural.
But hopefully somebody with more knowledge about grammar will be around soon and can explain.
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