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grammatical number - "What tools is everybody using?" or "What tools are everybody using?"



I often see "What tools is/are everybody using?" and other sentences of same form used with both is and are. Which one is the correct way to write the question?



What tools is everybody using?


What tools are everybody using?




Answer



Great question!


Technically, this is really more about whether to say "everybody is" or "everybody are", because the tools aren't doing anything in this sentence. We use "everybody is", so "What tools is everybody using?" would be the more correct choice, technically.


However, that really grates on the ear. Personally, I might just go with "...are..." in a casual setting, and everybody would get the idea. But in a more formal setting, the answer with something like this is to rephrase. The devil is in the details.


Peter Shor's suggestion of "What tools are being used by everyone?" might be interpreted as saying that only those tools that are being used by literally every user would qualify.


Another possibility is "What are the tools that everybody is using?", which also emphasizes "everybody" a little more than your original, but a little less than Peter's (in my opinion).


EDIT: David K has suggested a good alternative: "What set of tools is everyone using?" If you're talking about computing, this could also be "What toolset is everyone using?"


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