Which is correct: "What is" or "What are" [closed]

How should I phrase "What is the first 5 digits of your home postal code" or "What are the first 5 digits of your home postal code?"

Solution 1:

Since you are asking for five items, the plural "What are" is correct.

If you are asking for one thing 'What is your name?' then use singular.

Solution 2:

When in doubt about using singular versus plural, try removing 'extra' parts of the sentence until you get just the most basic parts.

This sentence, at its shortest, is asking

What are the digits?

Obviously, for meaning, we need to put "postal code" back in so the person being asked knows how to answer.

What are the digits of your postal code?

We need to specify a quantity so we get the answer we want.

What are the first five digits of your postal code?

Without those things, the sentence has less meaning, but it's still a correct sentence.

It can sometimes be harder to find the subject, because there is more than one thing that seems like a candidate in the sentence. For example, with a little rearranging, you could ask:

What is your home postal code?

or

What is the 5-digit beginning of your home postal code?