Which one of these two sentences is correct:
Posting lame memes, photos and jokes IS not gonna make you funny.
Posting lame memes, photos and jokes ARE not gonna make you funny.
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Both are found. Formal analysis requires is, as the subject is singular "posting"; but (particularly in speech) many people are swayed by the more recent plural items and say are.– Colin FineMay 27, 2020 at 11:07
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Yes, but in a similar example, a comment was that "the subject is not 'posting' but 'memes, photos and jokes'. That made (still makes) me rethink what is right.– Ram PillaiMay 27, 2020 at 13:09
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2 Answers
Number 1 is correct. I parse it in my head as "[The] posting [of] lame memes, photos and jokes is not going to make you funny."
So it's a referring to a singular act.
Consider the fact that you are posting contents (memes, photos and jokes). As soon as it's one action, you'd use "IS".
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A lot of participants are vs. The number of participants is..... (?) - Here, subject is similar, and still...? May 27, 2020 at 13:11
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@RamPillai depends... If you are talking about and action that all participants are doing together, for example "to eat", you'd say: "A lot of participants are eating french fries". In the second sentence, where you "reduced" the participants to a number, so you'd say: "the number of participants is 23".– KpsLokJun 2, 2020 at 9:20