I just need clarification on a grammar point. As far as I know, if the answer to a Who question is a subject, we use Who was, even if the answer is plural e.g. Who was playing soccer?
If the answer is an object, it can be Who was OR Who were, depending upon whether we expect the object answer to be singular or plural in nature.
For some reason, Who were playing soccer? doesn’t sit right, even if the answer is Bob and I were playing soccer.
I would love some clarification, and especially some links. I havent had any luck looking myself.
Of course though there’s a plural complement there. When there’s not, as in “Who were there?” “Who were arrested?” or the OP’s “Who were playing soccer?” it does sound strange. Not sure about a definite answer. I feel like I can imagine saying it if it were definitely known that multiple people were involved, and I was simply confirming their identities, perhaps because I hadn’t heard clearly.
“MMslsen and jnnnnnt were there.”
“WHO were there?”
I think it’s safe to say “Who was…” is normally used in such cases though.
“Who were playing soccer” sounds wierd, but maybe that’s because the subject has been omitted
“Who were the people playing soccer?” sounds perfectly fine to me.
So for some unknown reason, omitting the subject in the singular case doesn’t sound wierd (“who was playing soccer?”), but it does sound wierd in the plural case
Subject verb agreement. If there is no subject in the question, who is the subject and you use the singular. If there is a subject in the sentence and they are plural you use plural.
Who were the people playing in the park? The subject is people so you have to use were. Who was walking next to you? as opposed to "Who were YOU walking next to?
Without being arrogant but the question has been answered perfectly clearly. Guess this is an indication that previous posts are often not read. Subject verb agreement is the answer.
