It might seem a trivial question but it occured to me whlie I was writing for an assignment.
I know if I put a pair of in subject place, I should use a singular verb e.g. A pair of shoes is there. Does it work the other way around too?
What subject suits this sentence, a singular or plural one:
…. is/are a pair of shoes.
This is confusing for me because on the one hand when you point at some shoes actually you're showing something that is originally a plural noun so it must be addressed as plural. On the other hand we want to use a pair of which is singular. So which is correct?
It's a pair of shoes.
They're a pair of shoes.
Best Answer
In your examples, both are correct, but it depends on what you are referring to
in these examples one is describing the "pair"edness of the objects.
in these examples one is describing the objects as a "pair".