Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

EngLove

Member Since

July 13, 2012

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

8

Bio

Latest Comments

It is you who are/is ...

  • July 13, 2012, 5:26pm

It should be "It's you who is wrong". The word "who" refers to the subject "you", but inherits only the number (singular or plural) of the subject. Then "is" depends on "who". In this sense you can consider the phrase "who is wrong" as a (complex?) clause.

For instance, you wouldn't say "It's I who am wrong."

But curiously enough, with this construction you can actually distinguish between a singular "you" and a plural "you". How nifty! :)