Posted by R. Berg on August 29, 2002
In Reply to: Urgent: grammar help needed posted by ESC on August 29, 2002
: The only thing we overlook ARE wide open spaces.
: The only thing we overlook IS wide open spaces.
: Paging R. Berg. Which is correct? The grammar mavens are divided on this question. The sentence is for a proposed customer service ad with a visual pun -- a scenic overlook.
IS is correct. The noun that governs is "thing," the subject of the sentence.
So they call themselves mavens, do they? Without having read Fowler?