Is vs Are | Grammar, Use & Examples
We use is with singular nouns and “he,” “she,” and “it” (third-person pronouns) but are with plural nouns as well as “you” and “they.” However, deciding what is singular or plural, or which pronoun to use, can sometimes be tricky.
- Collective nouns are typically treated as singular, especially in American English.
- We often introduce a list with there is if the first item is singular but there are if the first item is plural.
- Use is with uncountable nouns like “information” or “advice.”
- They are can refer to an unspecified person (the “singular they”).
- Use are with compound subjects joined with “and.”
- In formal English, use is with amounts of money, distances, weights, and spans of time, even when mentioning plural “units.”
- We say “a number of X are.”
| Point of grammar | Is in a sentence | Are in a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Collective nouns |
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| Existential there (there is vs there are) |
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| Uncountable nouns (aka noncount nouns or mass nouns) |
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| Singular they |
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| Compound subjects |
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| Subject-verb agreement (quantities and measurements) |
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| Indefinite quantifiers |
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Is or are: collective nouns
We typically use is with nouns like “team,” “government,” and “committee” (i.e., collective nouns), but you can use are when there is a clear focus on the individual members of these “groups.” If you want to avoid using are with collective nouns, it’s not usually difficult to reformulate what you want to say using is (e.g., using partitive nouns like “member”).
| Is for referring to the whole/entity | Are for referring to individuals within it | Alternative to avoid are with a collective noun |
|---|---|---|
| The whole family is here. | The whole family are lawyers. [Each member of the family is a lawyer] | Everyone in the family is a lawyer. |
| The project team is coming to the meeting. | Don’t worry; the project team are all very friendly. [Each member of the team is friendly] | The members of the project team are all very friendly. |
| The committee is made up of five members. | The committee are arriving separately. [Each member will arrive at a different time] | The committee members are arriving separately. |
In everyday American English, we sometimes use is with a collective noun but the pronoun “they” to refer to the same noun (“The committee is confident that they are going to win”).
It is best not to mix the use of is and are with the same collective noun within close proximity in formal writing, even if your focus switches to the individual within a group rather than the whole group (or vice versa). For instance, you can avoid writing “The committee is attending the conference and are arriving separately” by reformulating it as “The committee members are attending the conference and are arriving separately.”
There is or there are
Use there is, not there are, with uncountable nouns (also called “mass nouns” or “non-count nouns”) such as “money,” “information,” and “furniture.” Nouns that are uncountable in one context may be uncountable in another (e.g., “There is some chicken in the fridge,” “There are some chickens in the yard”), and nouns that are treated as uncountable in English may have equivalents in other languages that are treated as countable.
Is there any furniture you like in this catalog?
There isn’t any more news about that.
Use there are with plural nouns. Don’t forget that nouns that we think of as belonging to “a pair,” such as “scissors,” “pants,” or “jeans” are treated as plural.
There are some jeans on the couch; are they yours? [Referring to one pair of jeans]
There aren’t any more updates about that.
In modern English, we typically begin a list of two or more items with there is if the first item is singular but there are if it is plural. Alternatively, you can choose to always introduce such lists with “there are.”
- There is a restaurant, a cafe, and a burger bar.
- There are a restaurant, a cafe, and a burger bar.
- There are two restaurants, a cafe, and a burger bar.
- There is two restaurants, a cafe, and a burger bar.
However, bear in mind that fixed expressions such as “fish and chips,” “bread and butter” and “bed and breakfast” (binomial pairs) are grammatically singular.
- There’s fish and chips on the menu.
- There are fish and chips on the menu.
Here is or here are
In everyday spontaneous speech, we often say “here’s” or here is with plural nouns, instead of here are, when presenting something or identifying the location of something. However, this is considered a mistake in formal speech or writing.
| Here is in a sentence (everyday speech) | Here are in a sentence (formal speech/writing) |
|---|---|
| Here’s the test results; I’ll leave them on your desk. | Here are the test results that you requested. |
Data is or data are
The word data can be used in a countable sense (e.g., “The data is not very good”) and a non-countable sense (e.g., “The data are not very good”). It is best to treat it as a countable (plural) noun in formal, technical contexts such as scientific writing when it is referring to statistics or individual pieces of information.
People is or people are
The word people is treated as plural when used to mean the plural of “person” and is usually treated as plural when it means “the ordinary people of a country.” When “people” means “all the persons belonging to a particular nationality, culture, race, or social group,” it is often used as a singular noun, with “peoples” as its plural.
| People is | People are |
|---|---|
| This ancient people is known for its remarkable technical achievements. | How many people are coming to the party? |
| A nomadic people is typically able to adapt to life in harsh environments. | The people of the country are united. |
Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are words like “everyone,” “none,” and “each.” Some of them are singular, some are plural, and some can be either. Everyone, for example, is singular—so it’s always everyone is, not everyone are.
Let’s wait because not everyone is here yet.
None is or none are
Some people prefer to always treat “none” as singular, but it is OK, and more common, to treat it as singular when used before a singular noun and plural when used before a plural noun.
- None of the work is finished.
- None of the rooms are finished.
- None of the rooms is finished. [Correct, but less common]
So, you can say none of them is or none of them are depending on whether you think of it as meaning “not one of them is” or “not any of them are.”
- There are four options, and none of them is very attractive.
- There are four options, and none of them are very attractive.
Each is or each are
In formal contexts, say or write each is (not each are), even when “each of” is followed by something plural.
| Each is | Each are | |
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Frequently asked questions about is vs are
- Is it neither is or neither are?
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Neither is, not neither are, is grammatically correct because “neither” is a singular indefinite pronoun (e.g., “Neither (option) is okay”).
However, in informal English, we sometimes say “neither of X are” (e.g., “I think neither of those options are acceptable,” “I think neither of them are acceptable”) and “neither X nor Y are” (e.g., “Neither David nor Elise are here today”).
Deciding if is or are is grammatically correct with indefinite pronouns can be tricky. You can use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you check your sentences for correct subject-verb agreement.
- Is it either is or are?
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Either is (not either are) is grammatically correct because “either” is a singular indefinite pronoun (e.g., “Either (option) is fine”).
However, in informal English, we sometimes say “either of X are” (e.g., “I don’t think either of those options are acceptable,” “I don’t think either of them are acceptable”) and “either X or Y are” (e.g., “Either Paula or Sasha are going to do it”).
Deciding if is or are is the correct choice with indefinite pronouns can be difficult. Why not use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you check the subject-verb agreement in your sentences?
- Is it information is or are?
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It is always information is (not information are) because it is an uncountable noun (e.g., “The information is on the website”). But you can say “pieces of information are” (e.g., “A few pieces of information are missing”).
Deciding if is or are is the right choice can be tricky. Why not use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help ensure that the subject-verb agreement in your sentences is correct?
- Is it everybody is or everybody are?
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It is always everybody is (not everybody are)—e.g., “Everybody is meeting there at 5 p.m.”).
Knowing whether to use is or are with indefinite pronouns can be tricky because some are treated as plural, some as singular (like everybody), and some can be either.
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you to check the subject-verb agreement in your sentences.
- Is it my family is or are?
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We typically say and write family is (not family are) in American English, treating it as singular, like other collective nouns.
In British English, it is very common to use are with collective nouns (even in formal contexts) if the writer or speaker is thinking of the group as individuals rather than a single entity, (e.g., The family are all very health conscious). This use is not common in American English, but it is acceptable.
Knowing whether is or are is correct can be tricky. You can use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to check that the subject-verb agreement in your sentences is correct.
