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Viktoriya
Is this dialogue correct? - Somebody is swimming. - Who is swimming? - A man and a woman. I and my daughter were near a swimming pool and there were two people in the water. My daughter said: somebody is swimming. But there were two people in the pool! Should I ask her "who are swimming?" in this situation? Thank you for your help!
Oct 24, 2017 12:16 PM
Answers · 4
1
Since your daughter said, "(Somebody) is swimming." it is grammatically correct to say, "Who is swimming?" in response since the phrasing makes it seem like only one person (singular) is involved. If she had said, "Some (people) are swimming." (plural) then that would be the right time to ask, "Who are swimming?".
October 24, 2017
1
In American English, "who is swimming" is standard. I believe this might differ by country though; one of the differences between British and American English is the choice of verb conjugation in certain situations, and I'm not entirely sure where all the differences come up. For example, American: "Boston *is* playing New York (in a baseball game)," but British: "Tottenham *are* playing Arsenal (in a football match)."
October 24, 2017
Of course u could ask in that way u tryying to do. - Somebody is swimming. - Who is swimming? - A man or a woman. My daughter and  I   were near to  a swimming pool and there were two people in the water. My daughter said: somebodies  are swimming. But there were two people in the pool! Should I ask her "who are swimming?" in this situation? Thank you for your help!
October 24, 2017
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