a product

Corrected, thanks!

I should conform the numbers flanking the copula: either "Belief is a product" or "Beliefs are products." I notice the Portuguese does so, but not the Spanish.

"Beliefs are a product" _is_ something a native speaker might say, but by my lights it's not a good model.

I see your point. I might say "Different beliefs are products of our imagination." It doesn't really "bother" me. I think it might have to do with the idea of "Creating beliefs is a product..." The "Creating" is understood.

I agree that it's not troubling in the sense of sounding wrong. When it just flies by, it seems fine; and I'm sure very similar things come out of my mouth all the time. When I write them though, and go back to read what I've written, I change them.

This leaves me in a quandary. On the one hand, it seems the sentences on Tatoeba ought to be good models. On the other hand, aren't the things people really say good models?

Maybe we should also ask the Spanish sentence translator how he feels about the plural - singular cohabitation?

I'm going to ask a Litt major too.

There are times when mixed number is unavoidable (without rephrasing). (E.g., A&B are what we want.) Hence wrong is impossible; and the choice becomes a matter of taste, style, or level of usage.

It may be worth noting that the English and Portuguese were contributed together by the same person, that Portuguese is his native language, that the Portuguese is number-consistent, and that the English had what may have been just a typographical error and may have been intended to be number-consistent.

Tatoeba's ethos is interesting in this regard. If I had the power to change this sentence--even though it doesn't belong to me--I wouldn't touch it, even though I'd prefer the change: it isn't wrong, it's just not as nice as (I think) English can be.

My Spanish is not so hot, but I feel the same way about the Spanish translation; and of course I think the Portuguese is perfect.

This is my conversation with a Canadian poet and English major.
"Beliefs are a product of our imagination." Does this sentence sound right or would you correct it?

Bruce K. Filson I may not agree with it, but it's grammatically correct. You're worried about the plural being jammed into the singular but can we not say "Women are the love of my life." or "Ideas are the source of my business."?

Bart Hoen I contribute to "Tatoeba" and someone commented. In Spanish they also have a singular "jam" but in Portuguese they use the plural. Would Beliefs are products, sound wrong?

Bruce K. Filson No, that's fine too, but with a slightly different meaning. "Beliefs are products" sounds like maybe
once in while they aren't. "Beliefs are the product of our imagination" sounds like a law that covers all cases.