{{Short description|Reduplication of "is" (to be) copula verbs}} The '''double "is"''', also known as the '''double copula, reduplicative copula''', or '''Is-is''',<ref>{{Citation |last1=Brenier |first1=Jason |first2=Liz |last2=Coppock |first3=Laura |last3=Michaelis |first4=Laura |last4=Staum |contribution=ISIS: It's not a disfluency, but how do we know that? |title=Berkeley Linguistics Society 32nd Annual Meeting |year=2006 |url=http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/bls/past_meetings/bls32/abstracts/bls32_brenieretalLA.pdf |accessdate=2012-10-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503185807/http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/bls/past_meetings/bls32/abstracts/bls32_brenieretalLA.pdf |archivedate=2015-05-03 }}</ref><ref> Brenier, Jason M. and Laura A. Michaelis. 2005. Optimization via Syntactic Amalgam: Syntax-Prosody Mismatch and Copula Doubling. ''Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory'' 1: 45-88.</ref> 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:
:''My point is,<!--not a mistake--> is that...''
This construction is accepted by many English speakers in everyday speech, though some listeners interpret it as stumbling or hesitation,<ref>http://www.umanitoba.ca/linguistic_circle/e_journal/v2009_1Bakke.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> and others as "annoying".<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/grammar-pet-peeves_1_n_778486.html "Grammar Pet Peeves: Huffington Post Readers Pick 7 Really Annoying Language Blunders"], ''The Huffington Post'' 11/04/2010</ref>
Some prescriptive guides<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.odlt.org/ballast/double_copula.html|title=The ODLT - the Online Dictionary of Language Terminology|last=Ltd|first=Blair Arts|website=www.odlt.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-29}}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> do not accept this usage,{{clarify | reason = Is this intended to imply that some guides *do* accept this usage? If so, please can we have an example.|date=March 2015}} but do accept a circumstance where "is" appears twice in sequence when the subject happens to end with a copula; for example:
:''What my point is<!--not a mistake--> is that...''
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<!--not a mistake--> is a ..."
Some sources describe the usage after a dependent clause (the second example) as "non-standard" rather than generally correct.<ref name="noblesville">{{Cite news|url=http://currentnoblesville.com/the-double-is|title=The double is|last=Fischer|first=Jordan|date=September 24, 2013|newspaper=Current in Noblesville|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305101702/http://currentnoblesville.com/the-double-is|archive-date=March 5, 2016|access-date=April 29, 2019}}</ref><ref name="slate.com">{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/09/double-is-why-linguists-think-we-sometimes-double-up-on-is-in-a-setup-payoff-style-sentence.html|title=Are You a Double-Is-er?|last=Pelish|first=Alyssa|date=2013-09-17|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-04-29}}</ref>
==Copula other than "is"== 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: :''The problem being, is that...''<ref>{{citation|last=Massam|first=Diane|year=1999|title=''Thing is'' constructions: the thing is, is what's the right analysis?|journal=English Language and Linguistics|volume=3 |issue=2|page=349|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S136067439900026X |s2cid=122512296 }}</ref>
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.
==Explanations== The "double is" has been explained as an intensifier<ref name="noblesville" /> or as a way to keep the rhythm of the sentence.<ref name="slate.com"/> 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.<ref name="noblesville" />
==Other uses of "double is"== While not grammatically related to a double copula, a "double is" may occur when referring to the word "is" directly - indeed, such constructions appear throughout this very article. In these cases, the word "is" functions as a noun, and its general grammatical meaning is not considered. During the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, such construction was infamously employed by Bill Clinton when he remarked "It depends on what the definition of the word 'is' is".
==See also== * Zero copula, omission of the copula in some languages or styles * Pro-drop languages such as Spanish, where subject pronouns are often dropped and implied in their copulas
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060214191457/http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdouble.html Double "is"] at alt-usage-{{Not a typo|english}}.org * [http://www.languagelore.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/reduplicative-copula.pdf The Reduplicative Copula ''Is Is''] * [http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/74353/double-copula-or-double-is-in-professional-technical-writing StackExchange thread with statistical chart of occurrences over time] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150116192552/http://grammar.about.com/od/d/g/Double-Copula.htm Collection of observations]
Category:English grammar