Do you think this sentence is right or not? "To love and to be loved IS the greatest happiness on earth." I think IS should be replaced by ARE, because it connect with two things. What do you think ab

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sylvia

Do you think this sentence is right or not? "To love and to be loved IS the greatest happiness on earth." I think IS should be replaced by ARE, because it connect with two things. What do you think about this sentence? Please give me some advises.

Mar 7, 2012 2:01 AM

Answers · 6

The correct word is "is". Turn it around this way and the answer is more clear: The greatest happiness on earth is to love and to be loved. Happiness is singular, so we use 'is'.

March 7, 2012

IS...is correct.

March 7, 2012

Thank you so much Joel!

March 7, 2012

I believe the quote by Syndey Smith is actually written like this: 'Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence.' I'm unsure if the grammar is 100% right, but I imagine he wrote it this way on purpose. If 'and to be loved' is only a parenthetical element in this sentence, I don't think the 'is' should be an 'are.' To love (and to be loved) is the greatest happiness of existence. But, I could be totally wrong. Wait until one of the English gurus on italki answers this for you.　　(*Please give me some advice. Advice is a non-count noun and does not have a plural.)

March 7, 2012

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