“Is” and “are” are linking verbs for the present tense of “to be.” English uses “is” for singular nouns and “are” for plural nouns.
- Alanna Madden
- July 29, 2020
- Grammar Tips
“Is” and “are” are linking verbs for the present tense of “to be.” English uses “is” for singular nouns and “are” for plural nouns.
There are several confusing verbs in the English Language, but none are more tricky than “to be,” which contains eight different verb forms. “Is” and “are” are simply two of these forms, but English speakers often struggle to use them correctly.
English speakers use “is,” “are,” and “am” for the present tense of “be,” which are linking verbs that connect sentence subjects with other adjectives, compliments, nouns, and verbs. But unlike other verbs, “be” never describes the action of a sentence. Instead, specific verb forms assist other activities within separate past, present, and future tenses:
The tricky part about “is” vs. “are” involves subject-verb agreements, where a singular subject noun agrees with a singular verb, and a plural subject noun agrees with a plural verb.
As a general rule of thumb, the word “is” is singular and “are” is plural. Therefore:
How is this so? The singularity and plurality of pronouns depend on whether the subject is a single person (i.e., I, you, she, he, it) or a group of people (we, they, them).
For example,
“She is singing.” (singular subject + singular verb + verb)
“We are singing.” (plural subject + plural verb + verb).
When the sentence subject involves a personal pronoun, the first-, second-, and third-person perspectives also affect how we use “is” and “are.” For instance,
Based on what we know about verb tense, pronouns, and perspective, we can summarize the major differences between “are” and “is” as such:
If reviewing verb fundamentals feels overwhelming, don’t worry. The Word Counter Grammar Guide for “is” vs. “are” covers how to use the verbs for subject-verb agreements, pronouns, mass nouns, compound subjects, and more.
The words “is” and “are” are two of eight verb forms for the word “to be,” which means:
The word “is” is the third-person singular present tense of the verb “to be.” We use “is” to describe how a person, place, or thing exists, thinks, or behaves. For example,
“The teacher is charming.”
“She is reading a book.”
“This is an English class.”
“He is alive.”
“Is it nice outside?”
The word “are” is another verb form of “to be,” which we use for the first, second, and third-person in the present tense. Like other forms of “be,” we use the verb “are” to describe how people or things exist, think, or behave.
For example,
“They are running.”
“We are smart.”
“You are learning.”
“The politicians are speaking.”
“Are the trees blooming?”
Abide, breathe, continue, do, endure, exist, flourish, happen, kick, last, lie, live, lead, occur, persist, prosper, rank, rule, sit, stand, subsist, survive, thrive, transpire.
Depart, die, disappear, evaporate, expire, perish, succumb, vanish, wane.
The most basic grammar rule for “is” vs. “are” involves subject-verb agreement:
Sentence examples: Subject noun + singular/plural verb
“My leg is swollen.” (singular)
“Her legs are sore.” (plural)
When it comes to personal pronouns, the verb “to be” is also dependent on perspective (first, second, third-person) and verb tense (past, present, future). And since “is” is the third-person singular present tense of the verb “to be,” we only use “is” with she/he/it pronouns (and sometimes “your”).
Meanwhile, we use “are” for the following tenses:
Sentence examples: Subject pronoun + singular/plural verb
“Is he feeling alright?”
“She is the CEO.”
“Is it cold outside?”
“Where is your notebook?”
“Are you okay?”
“They are hiking.”
“We are driving to the store.”
“Where are your notes?”
As one might expect, “is” agrees with singular indefinite pronouns, while “are” agrees with plural indefinite pronouns. The tricky part is understanding which pronouns are singular or plural.
Singular indefinite pronouns end with -body or -one:
Examples: singular verb + singular indefinite pronoun
“Where is everyone?”
“Nobody is here.”
“There is someone outside.”
Plural indefinite pronouns indicate plural nouns:
Examples: plural verb + plural indefinite pronoun
“There are fewer gatherings now.”
“Many are leaving the city.”
“Others are staying at home.”
For indefinite pronouns that are singular or plural, the use of “is” and “are” depends on the noun and verbs they reference. Such pronouns include all, any, more, most, none, and some.
For example,
“Most of my room is clean.” (singular)
“None of my clothes are put away.” (plural)
Mass nouns represent uncountable nouns, such as time or sky. While referencing a mass noun, always use “is.” For example,
“There is coffee in the cupboard.”
“Is butter a carb?”
“The sky is blue.”
We can use “is” and “are” to reference collective nouns, which describe a number of people or things as a single entity. For instance, the words jury, class, and population are all collective nouns. But when it comes to collectives nouns, how we use “is” and “are” also depends on the regional dialect:
Sentence examples: Collective noun + singular/plural verb
“The band is performing later.” (U.S. & U.K.)
“The band are performing later.” (U.K. only)
“The bandmates are performing later.” (U.S. & U.K.)
Use the verb “are” for sentences containing two or more subjects (especially when connected by “and”). For example,
“Are your friends and relatives joining?” (plural)
However, if you’re describing a series of singular nouns, “are” is not the correct choice. For instance,
“There is a dog, turtle, and an iguana.” (singular)
To decide between “there is” and “there are,” always check to see which noun follows the phrase:
For example,
“There is a truck.” (singular)
“There are two trucks” (plural)
The English language uses several collecting phrases, such as:
To use “is” or “are” correctly, look for which noun the collective phrase is referencing:
Sentence examples: singular/plural verb + singular/plural noun
“There is a number of students who skip class.” (incorrect)
“A number of students are skipping class.” (correct)
“A group of people is socializing outside.” (correct)
“There are groups of people socializing outside.” (correct)
“Is there a pair of shoes in the grass?” (correct)
“A pair of shoes are lying in the grass.” (correct)
Test how well you understand the difference between “is” and “are” with a multiple-choice test. For the first five questions, choose the correct form of “be.”