Nouns expressing a single idea must be used with a singular verb?

[PGVadivel]

Hello,
Two or more nouns expressing a single idea must be used with a singular verb ?
Eg : 1) coffee and tea is injurious to health.
2) The book and cover is very attractive.
Are these phrases right?
If these are right pls reveal that how ?

 

[emsr2d2]

No. Both need "are".

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum.

Must two or more nouns expressing a single idea [STRIKE]must[/STRIKE] be used with a singular verb?

Note the correct way to ask your question.

Don't leave a space before a question mark.

 

[emsr2d2]

Please don't use non-standard abbreviations. "Pls" does not exist in English. It's "please".

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, PG:

You have asked a very interesting question. I have found some information that you may wish to study.

1. "[W]hen the nouns form 'a collective idea' or 'a oneness of idea,' ... the singular is appropriate."

a. "[T]he time involved and the red tape is one of the biggest problems."
b. "The name and the address of the grocery was painted on the slats."
c. "Time and patience is necessary."

2. The same book tells us that when "each number of singular noun subjects is considered separately, the verb is in the singular."

a. "A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss of friends, seems at the moment untold loss."

b. "Every legislator, every doctor, and every citizen needs to recognize [....]."

3. If you visit the United States, for example, you will discover that ham and eggs is a traditionally popular breakfast.


Credit for those quotations goes to Webster's Dictionary of English Usage (1989). Published by Merriam-Webster, Inc. (I am responsible for emphasizing the nouns.)

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think law and order is a single idea, but I am not a teacher.

 

[konungursvia]

Some of those Websterian examples I can't stomach. Was it Dan'l Webster, the New Hampshire lawyer, who made them?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I agree with you. I think 1a, 2a, and 2b are wrong.