grammatical number - "...are what matter" vs. "are what matters"


I have no idea which of these sentences is correct:



Technical analysis and debate are what matter.



or



Technical analysis and debate are what matters.



The first sounds right to me because it's similar to the simple sentence "Technical analysis and debate matter." But looking at the direct object alone, "what matters" sounds more correct than "what matter".


Both usages look pretty common on Google.



Answer




noun and noun are what matter.



Is the correct usage.


An easy way to break this down might be an examination of the use of is:



Drinking and driving is illegal



versus



Drinking and driving are illegal



Drinking or driving separately are not illegal. Combined, however, it is illegal.


are is plural. is is singular.


As a combination of actions, you'd use is. In your case:



Technical Analysis and debate is what matters.



That would be a better comparison.


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