It is you who... is/are?

My bet is on is because the subject is not plural. However I am not an expert on grammar, so take that with a grain of salt

On the contrary. It is you who is obstructing our progress.

Consider changing the "you" to "me" and you would see why "is" is correct:

"It is me who am obstructing the progress" just sounds wrong.



I usually don't make suggestions for rewrite since this is a grammar forum, but... I'd say, don't use this "it is..." construct. How about:

On the contrary, you are the one who is obstructing our progress.

Am I missing something here?

I am - You are - He is.

I would have thought ...you who are... (Example 1) was acceptable.

Maestro. Why are you suggesting changing 'you' to 'me' to make your point - why not 'you' to 'I'?

'It is I who am...' is acceptable -no?

As also would be...It is he who is....

ETA- getting late over here and I'm heading for slumberland now - not ignoring you if you post soon, M.

I guess... but consider this question:

"Who did it?"
"It was him [who did it]."

No?

You wouldn't say "It was he."

To me, "It was I who am wrong" just sounds weird. "I am the one who am wrong" also sounds wrong.

I think grammatically "it is I who am wrong" is correct, but it just doesn't sound good to me for some reason.

ETA: here's a write-up I found: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxitsmev.html

I think it all depends; they both sound 'correct' to me. I know when I was writing part of my MS, spell/grammar check would pop up and ask that I change 'is' to 'are' on some of my sentences. But if I read the sentence out loud, it sounded really wierd when I used 'are' instead.

Are.

Focus on the subject-predicate of the sentence.

• It is you.
• You are obstructing our progress.

They're melded together into one sentence using a verbal phrase, or a non-finite clause.

Oh, and you can't just change it to 'he' or 'him', or substitute 'me' vs. 'I' to tell in this case.

Both 'he' and 'I' alter themselves when going from nominative case to accusative, dative or genitive case. 'You' has the same form in all cases.

It's one of the odd remnants left over from an English language that had morphological cases.

Geek rant off.

Summary:

Set 1:

It is I who am...
It is you who are...
It is he who is...
It is we who are...
It is you who are...
It is they who are...

Set 2:

It is me who is...
It is you who is...
It is him who is...
It is us who are...
It is you who are...
It is them who are...

Pick whichever set you like.

Thanks for coming back, Maestro, but you're beginning to lose me a tad now with quoting 'I am the one who am wrong' as sounding wrong. That sentence not only sounds wrong - it is wrong.

Anyway, I guess the OP has had her question answered.

Cheers.

maestrowork said:

I guess... but consider this question:

"Who did it?"
"It was him [who did it]."

No?

You wouldn't say "It was he."

To me, "It was I who am wrong" just sounds weird. "I am the one who am wrong" also sounds wrong.

I think grammatically "it is I who am wrong" is correct, but it just doesn't sound good to me for some reason.

ETA: here's a write-up I found: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxitsmev.html

Click to expand...

Jonathan Dalar said:

Oh, and you can't just change it to 'he' or 'him', or substitute 'me' vs. 'I' to tell in this case.

Both 'he' and 'I' alter themselves when going from nominative case to accusative, dative or genitive case. 'You' has the same form in all cases.

It's one of the odd remnants left over from an English language that had morphological cases.

Geek rant off.

Click to expand...

*sigh*

That was so lovely.

azbikergirl said:

Thanks, all! I feel better now.

Click to expand...

You do?
I have this massive sinking feeling that I'll never really understand grammar. He/me/I is/are confused.

I try to avoid this construct like the plague. Just say "You are obstructing the progress" already.

azbikergirl said:

Which is grammatically correct?

• On the contrary. It is you who are obstructing our progress.
• On the contrary. It is you who is obstructing our progress.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have it in the back of my mind that you live in the West Country now. If so, it should be be for everything. I be... you be... he be... we be... they be... Much simpler

Yes, definitely a line to reword for clarity. Ha ha ha, this question reminds me of the good ol' days when students brought puzzle sentences to class to toss sabots in the millworks. I think fraternities and sororities kept them on file along with essays to plagiarize.

Like the sentence you can say but not write without unwieldy slashes or footnotes:

"There are three 2s in the English language." No, that's not right.

"There are three toos in the English language." No better. There aren't three of those, either.

"There are three tos in the. . . ." Oh, never mind.

Use the contraction. It's more obvious that way. I can't seem to visualise it without the contraction.

It is you who's obstructing our progress.

It is they who're obstructing our progress.

Are.

I revise my answer. "It is you who are..."

I still think "It is I who am..." sounds wrong.

azbikergirl said:

Which is grammatically correct?

• On the contrary. It is you who are obstructing our progress.
• On the contrary. It is you who is obstructing our progress.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Are.

But why muck up the sentence with this redundant "It is X who Y" construction. Why not say:

You are obstructing our progress.

blacbird said:

Are.

But why muck up the sentence with this redundant "It is X who Y" construction. Why not say:

You are obstructing our progress.

Click to expand...

Some people talk like that. I see no problem with the construct if it's in speech. As a narrator... that narrator would annoy the crap out of me, though.

Also, I choose 'are'.