What form of verb "to be" should be used here?
Example:
the object of studying word formation as a linguistic discipline is/are derivatives
It's general question what to use when to be is between two nouns of different number

Question

What form of verb "to be" should be used here?
Example:
the object of studying word formation as a linguistic discipline is/are derivatives 
It's general question what to use when to be is between two nouns of different number

Answer

"the object of studying word formation as a linguistic discipline is/are derivatives"

"Of studying word formation as a linguistic discipline" simply modifies "object," so let's look at the sentence without it:
- The object [...] is/are derivatives

The verb is modifying "the object," which is singular, so the verb should be singular:
- The object is derivatives
- The object of studying word formation as a linguistic discipline is derivatives"

(While the sentence doesn't make much sense to me - maybe I need more context? - it is grammatically correct.)

Answers · 2

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