Is or Are? *Time sensitive poetry grammar*

Question

On half the black boxes,

mic are closed; the other half are staring.

This is a poem about Zoom. Half of the black boxes on the screen are staring

But is it ‘are staring’ or ‘is staring’ ?

Is half singular in this context, which would necessitate changing it to ‘is’ instead of ‘are’ ?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hey, Abigail.

To put it simply, the poem should read "On half the black boxes, mics are closed; the other half are staring."

If you were referring to one single person, you would use "is." Since you are referring to more than one person, you need to use "are."

The word "mic" should be plural because you use the plural form of "box." If there was one box, there would be one mic. If there are multiple boxes, there are multiple mics.

Answer 2

Hi Abigail,

You would need to write "half are staring" since 'boxes' is plural, and 'are' is the plural infinitive of the verb 'to be'.

Also, mic are closed is incorrect grammar. You would need to change "mic" to mics since 'mics' (short for "microphones") is plural, as is 'are' in this line of your poem. Therefore, your revised written line should read: mics are closed.