Was or were?

Factual Questions
1

Can any English professors settle an argument?

I believe that in the following sentence:


All we took with us were an (x), a (y) and a (z).

“were” ought to be replaced by “was”. A colleague (and superior, unfortunately) maintains that it is correct as written. Who’s right?

NB: exactly what x, y and z are doesn’t matter. They’re all singular objects.

My argument is that “all” is functioning as a singular, in the same way that “what” does in the sentence “What we need is more badgers”, which the dictionary definitely prefers over “are” in this case. But I’m quite prepared to bow down to superior knowledge. (Just not my boss’s. :wink: )

2

Shouldn’t it read correctly if reversed thusly:


An (x), a (y) and a (z) were all we took with us.

Looking at it this way, “were” just looks plain ugly.

3

IANAEP, but I believe that “were” is correct. The sentence implies that "All the objects [we took with us] were an x, a y, and a z. " If your boss is still not convinced, point out to him/her that it can be rendered alternatively as “The only objects we took with us were an x, a y and a z.”
And in your second example, you need one thing. What is that thing? More badgers. So your sentence is basically the same as “The thing that we need is more badgers”, which is why it’s “is” and not “are”. The “what” has nothing to do with the “is”.

4

IANAEP either but you may have to admit your superior is correct.

Try it this way: “These three things was all we took.” Sounds foolish, doesn’t it?

5

were

6

I was about to disagree, saying that ‘was’ is correct, but I changed my mind and here’s why:

The subject of the sentence is ‘all,’ in other words, ‘all [of the items]’. This is a collective noun so you use the plural form of the verb – were.

So in short, I agree with booklover.

7

“were” is correct. Syntax requires the verb to agree in number with the three items listed.

[If it matters, I have honours degree qualifications in English Language and English Literature, and my courses included grammatical analysis to phoneme level.]