>>>>IOW, fat chance. Instead, we're doing our family reunions here. The sons-in-law (or was it son-in-laws?) like it here, specially the food, and there's zero trouble at the border. No visa needed.
>>>
>>>"Sons-in-law" is correct.
>>
>>Thanks - it's these little things that surprise me every now and then, and then I just stop in my tracks and... don't know anymore which one is correct. Analysis paralysis, combined with subperfect memory :).
>
>To take it even further, "Sons-in-law are correct". It's one of my problems with English, when a word clearly refer to more than one, shall I use "is" or "are".
In this case, it was the quotation marks around "sons-in-law" that made it singular. It was shorthand for saying:
The word "sons-in-law" is correct.
There, you can clearly see that the subject is "the word," which is singular. OTOH, if I were discussing a disagreement between my (fictitious) daughters and their husbands, and the men had the right answer, I might say:
Sons-in-law are correct.
Tamar
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