Another "is" or "are" query...

[holoscofo]

Before Colonel Gadaffi's capture and killing I heard and read more than once in the media that "his whereabouts are unknown" whereas I always thought that, if referring to a single person, it should be "his whereabouts is unknown". Any thoughts?

[rosamundjohn]

whereabouts is plural

[rogerbee]

The unknown is "his whereabouts" [plural]. Therefore "His whereabouts ARE unknown"

[Leva]

His whereabouts are plural and are the subject of the verb to know in the passive "are unknown" so it is correct in the plural.

[Leva]

"whereabouts" is a plural noun and this is the subject of the verb to know in the passive voice here, so the plural form is correct.

[queenio]

'Are' is correct here as it is referring to his whereabouts, which is plural.

[Quizmonster]

So many people here mystify me. What conveivable reason can you have for disagreeing with the major British dictionaries as listed by myself here earlier? If THEY all say the word, 'whereabouts', may be treated as a singular OR a plural, how can YOU possibly claim it can only be plural? Is it simply because it has the letter 's' at the end? Bus ends in 's', but IT'S not plural, is it?
As further evidence, here's what Fowler's Modern English Usage has to say about whereabouts...

"The word is plural IN FORM but is construed EITHER as a plural OR a singular noun."

(The capitals are mine, of course, for emphasis.)

It is perfectly plain that every authoritative source on the use of our language disagrees with you. None of them say you can't treat the word as a plural, but - by the same token - you most certainly are in no position to say we can't treat it as singular.

[Pears]

I have just consulted Chambers English Dictionary.
"n. whereabout, now usu. pl. whereabouts, one's situation, esp.approx.". So it would seem that "whereabouts" is the plural of "whereabout" which I for one have never heard used in this context. As it is a plural noun the verb should be plural: are.