Make Your Sentences Sound Natural

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Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

For desert, you have your choice of tiramisu or spumoni.

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Today’s post is about a sentence I saw in an advertisement recently. Which is correct: is or are?

A delicious chicken dish as well as meatless options is/are available from the rooftop restaurant.

If you think “as well as” is just like and (as I do!) this version is correct:

A delicious chicken dish as well as meatless options are available from the restaurant.

But you could also decide to change your voice in the middle of the sentence. In that case, is would be correct. (Note that you’ll need a pair of commas.)

A delicious chicken dish, as well as meatless options, is available from the restaurant.

But why not make the sentence simpler – and better? “Are available” is static. Let’s make the sentence more lively (and eliminate the confusion about is/are while we’re at it):

The restaurant offers both a delicious chicken dish and meatless options.  BETTER

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

The word you need today is dessert.

Writers who struggle with double letters (I’m one of them!) can use this trick: Dessert for me always includes coffee with two lumps of sugar. I think “SS” (for two sugars), and then I can spell dessert correctly.

For dessert, you have your choice of tiramisu or spumoni.  CORRECT

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