How's things (going)?

[albertino]

Hi, there.
Why not "how're things (going)" but "how's things (going)"?
Thanks.

 

[Soup]

Plural verb: How are things going? :tick:
Subject-Verb agreement: Things are going well. :tick:
Contraction: How're things going? :tick:

Singular verb: How is things going? :cross:
Subject-Verb agreement: Things is going well. :cross:
Contraction: How's things going? :tick: (spoken English)

Note, when you contract how is to how's, the verb gets lost in the phonetics, so, no verb, no agreement--at least at the phonetic level. ;-)

 

[albertino]

Plural verb: How are things going? :tick:
Subject-Verb agreement: Things are going well. :tick:
Contraction: How're things going? :tick:

Singular verb: How is things going? :cross:
Subject-Verb agreement: Things is going well. :cross:
Contraction: How's things going? :tick: (spoken English)

Note, when you contract how is to how's, the verb gets lost in the phonetics, so, no verb, no agreement--at least at the phonetic level. ;-)

Thanks a million.

 

[Soup]

You're welcome a thousand. ;-)

 

[karlvh]

Hi, there.
Why not "how're things (going)" but "how's things (going)"?
Thanks.

Hi, how's things? Can I add that, although "How's things?" is technically grammatically incorrect, it is said all the time in everyday spoken English - so much so that natural-born English people will not bat an eyelid if you use this and, in fact, use it all the time themselves. In my office (a London-based firm of professional auditors), I'd estimate that 90% have a preference for the more natural "How's things?" rather than the technically correct "How are things?".