[Editor’s note: This post refers and links to the 17th edition of CMOS.]

False Attraction to a Predicate Noun

We all know that a singular noun subject requires a singular verb, and a plural subject requires a plural verb.

• My favorite is the giraffe.
• My favorites are nasturtiums and dahlias.

And we usually aren’t thrown by a plural subject with a singular predicate:

• Nasturtiums are my favorite.

But somehow doubt tends to arise when a singular noun subject is linked to a plural predicate noun. Nothing sounds right:

• My favorite is giraffes?
• My favorite are giraffes?

In fact, as CMOS 5.141 (17th ed.) explains, the singular noun favorite requires a singular verb (in this case, is) no matter what follows: my favorite is giraffes.

Any time all the choices sound odd, another option is to rearrange the sentence into something more pleasing:

• Giraffes are my favorite.

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