English Language & Usage Asked by Martin Ledermann on July 24, 2021
A friend of mine claims that a sentence like:
Foreign languages is what interests me.
is the only correct option, whereas using the plural are would be wrong.
I’m not convinced about this and I rather feel that the opposite of his claim is true. Which formation is correct? And where could I find information that explains the rationale behind this?
UPDATE:
I tried to search similar examples online but I could only find ones which use a plural form there:
Spoken languages are what they are by virtue of their verbal, not their written, manifestations.
source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/language/Physiological-and-physical-basis-of-speech
However, proto-languages are what many linguists agree on.
source: https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/proto-languages-and-their-evolution/ (John McWhorter, Ph.D., Columbia University)
Languages are what make us get up in the morning (and coffee, or a mug of Cadbury’s hot chocolate!)!
source: https://www.superpolyglotbros.com/who-we-are/ (Two English guys from Manchester)
Languages are what makes us unique and different.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/language_ecology.shtml
The real issue is whether foreign languages can be, or even should be, treated as singular. To better resolve the issue, I suggest using a simpler sentence:
Foreign languages interests me. [singular]
Foreign languages interest me. [plural]
Ngram and Google News have no data for either, but Google Books shows plenty of 2, but not a single case of 1.
Correct answer by JK2 on July 24, 2021
It's the only correct option because "Foreign Languages" is a proper noun, as indicated by the capital letters at the beginning of each word, most especially the L since the F would be capitalized anyway for being the first letter of the sentence. The fact that it's a proper noun, the proper name of something, like the name of a university department or a degree program, is why it must use "is" instead of "are."
If it weren't a proper noun, if the sentence instead started out "Foreign languages," the L being lowercase indicating it's not a proper noun, then one could use "are" there.
UPDATE:
Even if it isn't a proper noun, if it's the name of a single thing, then "is" is still what's required, like one can say, "Languages and linguistics is what interests me." That's because "languages and linguistics" is the name of an area of study. When saying "is" there, it means that you're referring to that as a single thing, not saying that you're interested in languages and interested linguistics.
It's no different than saying, "Eggs is what I like for breakfast." Using "is" indicates that "eggs" is the name of a dish, which is singular, that it's not being used to mean plural eggs. Another example would be "blues" as a genre of a music, which is singular, meaning it is proper to say, "Blues is famous for its sad lyrics," but it is not proper to say, "Blues are famous for their said lyrics."
So, by saying, "Foreign languages is what interests me," one isn't saying one is interested in some vague plurality of "foreign languages" but is saying that "foreign languages" as a subject, which is singular, is what one is interested in.
Answered by Benjamin Harman on July 24, 2021
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