The double "is", also known as the double copula, reduplicative copula, or Is-is, [1] [2] is the usage of the word "is" twice in a row (repeated copulae) when only one is necessary. Double is appears largely in spoken English, as in this example:
This construction is accepted by many English speakers in everyday speech, though some listeners interpret it as stumbling or hesitation, [3] and others as "annoying". [4]
Some prescriptive guides [5] do not accept this usage,[ clarification needed ] but do accept a circumstance where "is" appears twice in sequence when the subject happens to end with a copula; for example:
In the latter sentence, "What my point is" is a dependent clause, and functions as the subject; the second "is" is the main verb of the sentence. In the former sentence, "My point" is a complete subject, and requires only one "is" as the main verb of the sentence. Another use of "is is" is, "All it is is a ..."
Some sources describe the usage after a dependent clause (the second example) as "non-standard" rather than generally correct. [6] [7]
The term double is, though commonly used to describe this practice, is somewhat inaccurate, since other forms of the word (such as "was" and "were") can be used in the same manner:
According to the third edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage (as revised by Robert Burchfield), the double copula originated around 1971 in the United States and had spread to the United Kingdom by 1987.
The "double is" has been explained as an intensifier [6] or as a way to keep the rhythm of the sentence. [7] Some commentators recommend against using it as a matter of style (not correctness of grammar, as long as it is not following an independent clause), because some people find it awkward. [6]
In linguistics, a copula /‘kɑpjələ/ is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word is in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase was not being in the sentence "It was not being cooperative." The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a "link" or "tie" that connects two different things.
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English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and whole texts.
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A subject is one of the two main parts of a sentence.
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The enemy was defeated. Caesar was stabbed.
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Laura A. Michaelis is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and a faculty fellow in the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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