# is this sentence correct?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 20, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139 "2014-03-20T05:18:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Reza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Reza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reza)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139/1 "2014-03-20T05:18:43Z")

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They are a fact.

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**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139/2 "2014-03-20T05:21:27Z")

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You could concoct a scenario where it **makes sense** – some weird distributed system that, when taken as a whole, is equivalent to a “fact”, but the plural/singular disagreement is too strong for me to ever call it correct.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139/3 "2014-03-20T05:33:06Z")

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_“Black holes are not mere science fiction. They are a fact.”_

The alternate “They are facts.” doesn’t seem to work. After giving it more thought, removing the “a” would be am improvement.

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**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139/4 "2014-03-20T05:33:41Z")

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I could think of a context where it might be acceptable:

_Vampires are not just characters in scary movies. They are a fact of life in Transylvania._

But you’d have to be very careful. The following would not be acceptable:

_Two plus two equals four and four plus four equals eight. They are a fact of arithmetic._

(Which is a lot like what **panache45** just said.)

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**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sentence-correct/684139/5 "2014-03-20T13:41:03Z")

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In this case, I think you’re talking about an [ellipsis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis_%28linguistics%29). A more complete version of the example sentence would include “the existence of”. If it’s included, you go to a singular subject/singular linking verb/singular predicate nominative with complete agreement. If you don’t include it, then you revert to plural subject/plural linking verb/singular predicate nominativewith an apparent, though understood, disagreement.

And part of it may be the choice of predicate nominative. If you say “they are a team”, no one finds that awkward.