Being X and Y "is" mutually exclusive.

[alpacinou]

Which one is correct?

1. Being X and Y is mutually exclusive.
2. Being X and Y are mutually exclusive.

I've heard both of them on the internet. Are both correct?

 

[jutfrank]

Both are wrong.

X and Y are mutually exclusive.

X and Y represent two logical propositions, so it doesn't make sense to put being before them. These could be about two events or two conditions, for example. X and Y are not the events themselves but the propositions that predicate these events.

 

[emsr2d2]

Unless you're using software that reads things out, you don't "hear" things on the internet. You see them or read them.

 

[alpacinou]

This woman is a native speaker. Is what she says wrong?

https://imgur.com/a/V0hQoJ2

 

[emsr2d2]

She should have said "They think that being attractive and intelligent are mutually exclusive ...".

If you'd given us the actual quote in post #1, we would have been able to help sooner. You presented a standalone sentence that started with "Being X and Y".

 

[alpacinou]

She should have said "They think that being attractive and intelligent are mutually exclusive ...".

If you'd given us the actual quote in post #1, we would have been able to help sooner. You presented a standalone sentence that started with "Being X and Y".

It's really strange that she makes such an obvious mistake. I thought there's a grammar rule for saying that.

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you honestly believe that native speakers never make mistakes?

 

[alpacinou]

Is this okay?

Learning about world history and learning about local history are not mutually exclusive.

 

[emsr2d2]

Is this okay?

Learning about world history and learning about local history are not mutually exclusive.

It's grammatically correct.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's really strange that she makes such an obvious mistake. I thought there's a grammar rule for saying that.

In addition to my previous response, I want to add that there are plenty of grammar "rules" that native speakers don't know or don't follow. If that wasn't the case, everyone would speak perfect English at all times. They don't. They say things like "I could of won", "Me and my dog went to the park" and "I ain't got no money".

 

[Rover_KE]

... there are plenty of grammar "rules" that native speakers don't know or don't follow. If that wasn't the case, everyone would speak perfect English at all times. They don't. They say things like "I could of won", "Me and my dog went to the park" and "I ain't got no money".

Exactly. Sometimes it's through laziness or carelessness; at other times it's to conform to the language our peers are using and we don't want to sound posh.

Does the same thing not happen among native Persian-speakers, alpacinou?

 

[alpacinou]

Exactly. Sometimes it's through laziness or carelessness; at other times it's to conform to the language our peers are using and we don't want to sound posh.

Does the same thing not happen among native Persian-speakers, alpacinou?

Yes. But mostly teenagers do it. I've never experienced it with adults.

I vaguely remember seeing a video in which someone said "X and Y has to do with...". I mean he used singular "has" for "two things".
When I first saw the video of this woman, I thought that some people treat "X and Y" as "singular".

 

[Tarheel]

@alpacinou It seems to me that speech patterns that develop when you are a teenager are likely to persist into adulthood.

The most likely reason for a person to have certain speech habits is he has heard other people say the same things.

 

[jutfrank]

When I first saw the video of this woman, I thought that some people treat "X and Y" as "singular".

Remember that 'being X and Y' is singular, logically speaking. Look:

Being dead and alive is not possible.

The verb has to be is here, not are. My guess is that this is what she was thinking, which is why she used is not are. It's not the grammar that she got wrong, but the use of the phrase 'mutually exclusive'.