Subject/Verb question : Phrase/Clause + and + Phrase/Clause

[yongwookl716]

Hello.
First of all, thank you instructors, especially Ron.
I was able to increase my verbal score to 41, which would have been impossible without Manhattan.

Here's my question
When two phrases/clauses are compounded with 'and', is the subject a plural?

Eating hotdogs and drinking soft drinks are a bad habbit

Eating hotdogs while drinking soft drinks is a bad habbit

Are they correct?
Sounds wrong to my non-native ear.

[RonPurewal]

ordinarily, "x and y" implies that x and y are actually two different things. in this case, "x and y" is plural.

on the other hand, if "x and y" is considered a single thing, then it's singular.

e.g.,

Fish and chips is my favorite lunch. ("fish and chips" is so traditional in anglo countries that it's considered a single entity)

Rhythm and blues is the only kind of music that Radio Station X plays.
("rhythm and blues", also known as "R&B", is one type of music, not two)

vs.
Jazz and blues are the only kinds of music that Radio Station X plays.
(jazz and blues are 2 different kinds of music.)

--

[RonPurewal]

it should be clear, from the above examples, that most of these things are going to be culturally loaded. i.e., if you're from another country, you're much less likely to know that "fish and chips" and "R&B" are singular entities.

the writers are meticulous about eliminating any cultural bias from the test, so, if you see singular "x and y", there will be proof, somewhere in the sentence, that it's singular.

for instance, check out #85 in the OG (13th or 2015 edition). in that sentence, "owning and living..." is considered a single action-- but note the proof ("is", which is NOT underlined).

[RonPurewal]

Eating hotdogs and drinking soft drinks are a bad habbit

these are separate things, so "are" is fine.

the problem is the last part. since we're talking about two habits, you can't have "a bad habit"; you need to have the plural "bad habits". (compare to the "jazz and blues" sentence above; note that "kinds of music" is pluralized.)

also, FYI, "habit" has only one 'b'. you're probably thinking of "rabbit". english spelling is weird.

Eating hotdogs while drinking soft drinks is a bad habbit

this is fine, because "while xxxx" is a modifier (i.e., not part of the subject).