Are one of you/ Is one of you! Please help!

[Detlef]

Hi there,

Last night I was watching a rerun of 'Married with Children'.

Marcy had gone to a party where she met a man, whom she fell attracted to. The result was, that she ended up in bed with him, only, when she woke up next to him the following morning she didn't remember who he was. The only thing she knew was that she had married him. Discovering all of this, she ran off to the Bundys' next door, telling them what had happened. A little while later her husband, who didn't remember either what had happened also went to the Bundys'. When he came in he saw three women and he said: 'Hi, I saw a woman running into this place. Are one of you my wife?

Is it: Are one of you my wife? or Is one of you my wife? or Which one of you three is my wife?
Is it correct to say: Are one of you hungry?/ Is one of you children hungry?/ Is anyone hungry?/ Are any of you children hungry?/ Were any of the children naughty?

Thanks Detlef
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The Importance Of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) I just love him!

[OxfordBlues]

Hi Detlef.

First keep in mind that the characters on that show are supposed to be poorly educated as part of their character. So their English is not always the best.

As for your question it should be 'is'.

Whenever you find something like that where it's confusing and a prepositional phrase is involved, just delete the preposional phrase to verify agreement.

Is one (of you) my wife?

Are one (of you) my wife?

The predicate nominative (wife) is singular. The subject (one) is singular.

What's the singular form for the verb BE?

Is.

(the singular form for 'you' is are, but you can ignore the you because it's part of a prepositional phrase)

make sense?
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There's no such thing as an exception to the rule...

My blog: http://calleteach.wordpress.com

[Detlef]

Thank you very much Oxfordblues!
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The Importance Of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) I just love him!

[Vietanhpham_Winter]

blues, you got the same opinion as me. But at the time i entered the topic i'm on the flight from my homeland DANANG to my home in HANOI capital city. Do you know them and our new year's holiday?
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Nothing's impossible! Never say never! They're what I've been following. Hope you to follow them too!

[OxfordBlues]

Is Tet the new years celebration?

I'm not very familiar with it but my friends who have been to Vietname say it's a great place to visit.

My hometown, New Orleans, has the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. In fact, we just elected the first Vietnamese American to Congress last year.
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There's no such thing as an exception to the rule...

My blog: http://calleteach.wordpress.com

[Vietanhpham_Winter]

Come to vietnam! You're welcome.
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Nothing's impossible! Never say never! They're what I've been following. Hope you to follow them too!

[MrPedantic]

Hello Det,

I would agree with OB: the usual form would be "Is one of you my wife?".

However, I wonder whether there is more to the verb form here than poor grammar. It seems to add to the humour in a way that simple bad English would not; almost as if, by using "are", he is addressing all three as one.

Thus the grammar reflects his befuddled state, and even the possibility that he might have married all three.

Best wishes,

MrP